Aussies set for big night in L.A.
Carson, Calif. (March 25, 2005)—Friday night featured prominent Dutch performances at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Carson, Calif. but Saturday night clearly offers the opportunity for the Australian contingent to strut their stuff as several of tonight’s events feature Australian riders who were already heavily favored leading up to the event.
Story coutesty of Jacob Burns
Qualifying heats this morning at the ADT Event Center velodrome set the stage for key match-ups this evening. The women’s 3km individual pursuit, men’s sprint, and team pursuit will all feature some of the world’s top track cyclists as key competitors expected to advance did.
The women’s 3km individual pursuit qualifying round led to an all-Australian gold medal heat as Katie Mactier and Katherine Bates posted the best two times. Olympic silver medalist and runner-up at last year’s worlds, Mactier clocked a time of 3:38.325. Bates posted a 3:41.676. The bronze medal round this evening will pit Olympic time trial bronze medalist Karin Thurig (SUI) against Elena Tchalykh (RUS) after running third and fourth respectively.
Erin Mirabella (La Habra, Calif.) qualified ninth with a time of 3:49.157, ousting herself from further competition.
In the men’s team pursuit, the Australian squad (Stephen Wooldridge, Ashley Hutchinson, Matthew Goss, and Mark Jamieson) qualified third with a time of 4:10.072 ending their streak at three straight team pursuit world championships. The best the Aussies can hope for this evening is the bronze medal when they compete against fourth-seeded New Zealand (Jason Allen, Gregory Henderson, Peter Latham, and Marc Ryan).
Taking their place in the final will be the top-seeded British team of Ed Clancy, Steven Cummings, Paul Manning, and Christopher Newton, which posted a time of 4:08.569 and the Dutch team of Levi Heimans, Jens Mouris, Peter Schep, and Niki Terpstra, which clocked at 4:09.483. If the Dutch can steal gold from Great Britain they will continue to establish themselves as one of the world’s definitive track cycling powerhouses.
In men’s sprint qualifying, recently crowned world kilometer time trial champion Theo Bos (NED) continued his tear taking the top seed clocking a 10.192, nearly six one hundredths of a second faster than second-seeded Frenchman Mickaël Bourgain who posted a 10.257. In tonight’s early sprint rounds Bos, Bourgain, and other favorites Grégory Bauge (FRA), Stefan Nimke (GER), and René Wolff (GER) will look to secure their position in the final four for Sunday afternoon’s sprint semifinals and finals.
Also on Saturday night, the women’s sprint will conclude as Australian sisters Anna and Kerrie Meares compete in the semifinals offering the potential of another all-Aussie gold medal round. Each is a former medalist in the event (Kerrie won silver in 2003 and Anna won silver in 2004) To get there, K. Meares will need to defeat Tamilia Abassova (RUS) and younger sister A. Meares will need to overtake Victoria Pendleton(GBR). Notable riders missing from the final four include the top sprint seed Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR) who was relegated in the 1/4 finals and went on to take 5th place. Second seed Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED), and 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the sprint, Lori-Ann Muenzer (CAN), also failed to advance to the medal rounds.
In other final competition scheduled for Saturday evening, the much-anticipated men’s 15km scratch race features reigning world champion Greg Henderson (NZL), who will once again be a favorite to take home the rainbow jersey. Of the 18 other entered riders, special note should be taken of Franco Marvulli (SUI) who holds two of the three world championships since the event’s inception as a world championship discipline in 2002. Other top competitors include Ioannis Tamouridis (GRE), the silver medalist in Thursday night’s points race, Robert Slippens (NED), the 2004 silver medalist in the event, Jame Carney (Durango, Colo.), the world cup scratch race winner in Moscow, Alex Rasmussen (DEN), the overall 2004/05 world cup scratch race champion, and Jérôme Neuville (FRA), this year’s runner-up in the overall world cup scratch race standings.
Story coutesty of Jacob Burns
For complete event reports following the competition, visit www.usacycling.org.
For complete information on the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, visit www.usacycling.org.
A copy of the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships media guide is available here.
For a photo gallery of images from the week’s competition, click here.
About USA Cycling
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 50,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men’s road). For more information visit www.usacycling.org or contact, USA Cycling Director of Communicaitons, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867.
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 50,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men’s road). For more information visit www.usacycling.org or contact, USA Cycling Director of Communicaitons, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867.
This Article Published March 26, 2005 For more information contact:
