Men’s Sprint

Qualifying

The men’s sprint event opened the penultimate day of the world track championships which would see Francois Pervis of France start his campaign to become triple world champion for the second year in a row after clocking up his second win in the kilo competition the night previously. Stefan Boetticher of Germany, last year’s silver medallist, would be challenging Pervis for the title and would also have the advantage of fresh legs having not ridden the kilo the previous evening.

Gregory Bauge of France would also be looking to reconfirm his assertion on the event: Bauge had been at the receiving end of criticism after his opening lap in the team sprint would have cost the team the world championship had New Zealand not been relegated. The antipodeans would once again be putting up a strong challenge in the sprint, with Edward Dawkins of New Zealand and Matthew Glaetzer of Australia the prime contenders. Jason Kenny of Great Britain, who won the world sprint title in 2011, would also be keen to set the record straight after his disappointing performance in the keirin.

34 riders would start the event, with the fastest 24 going through to the 1/16 finals. A notable non-starter was Fabian Hernando Puerta Zapata of Colombia. Sadly for the Colombian, his competition was now over after suffering facial injuries following an accident in training.

In the end, Boetticher achieved the fastest ride, powering around the track to stop the clock at 9.641. Bauge qualified in second place, much to the delight of the French crowd, in 9.676. Dawkins and Jeffrey Hoogland of the Netherlands also managed to sneak into 9.6 second territory. Francois Pervis, whether through fatigue or deliberately holding back, ended up being only the third fastest Frenchman to qualify – in addition to Bauge, Quentin La Fargue clocked a time of 9.768 – a hundredth of a second quicker than Pervis (9.768).

Jason Kenny qualified in 10th spot with a time of 9.804 with teammate Callum Skinner just squeezing through to the next round with a time of 9.983. Rather surprisingly, Robert Foerstemann of Germany was painfully close to not going through to the next round – his time of 9.877 giving him the 20th fastest qualifying time out of 24 qualifiers.

Qualifying Results

1 Stefan BOETTICHER (Germany) 9.641 Q
2 Gregory BAUGE (France) 9.676 Q
3 Edward DAWKINS (New Zealand) 9.681 Q
4 Jeffrey HOOGLAND (Netherlands) 9.692 Q
5 Matthew GLAETZER (Australia) 9.703 Q
6 Quentin LAFARGUE (France) 9.768 Q
7 Francois PERVIS (France) 9.772 Q
8 Jacob SCHMID (Australia) 9.777 Q
9 Michael D’ALMEIDA (France) 9.796 Q
10 Jason KENNY (Great Britain) 9.804 Q
11 Pavel KELEMEN (Czech Republic) 9.825 Q
12 Denis DMITRIEV (Russia) 9.827 Q
13 Nikita SHURSHIN (Russia) 9.829 Q
14 Peter LEWIS (Australia) 9.830 Q
15 Hersony CANELON (Venezuela) 9.833 Q
16 Juan PERALTA GASCON (Spain) 9.845 Q
17 Sam WEBSTER (New Zealand) 9.848 Q
18 Chao XU (China) 9.876 Q
19 Seiichiro NAKAGAWA (Japan) 9.877 Q
20 Robert FOERSTEMANN (Germany) 9.877 Q
21 Damian ZIELINSKI (Poland) 9.905 Q
22 Eoin MULLEN (Ireland) 9.939 Q
23 Callum SKINNER (Great Britain) 9.983 Q
24 Joseph VELOCE (Canada) 9.992 Q
25 Adam PTACNIK (Czech Republic) 9.996
26 Hugo BARRETTE (Canada) 10.033
27 Kazunari WATANABE (Japan) 10.038
28 Anderson PARRA (Colombia) 10.048
29 Hugo HAAK (Netherlands) 10.088
30 Tomoyuki KAWABATA (Japan) 10.089
31 Mateusz LIPA (Poland) 10.100
32 Flavio CIPRIANO (Brazil) 10.146
33 Jose MORENO SANCHEZ (Spain) 10.218
34 Angel PULGAR (Venezuela) 10.275

1/16 Finals

The 1/16 finals went largely to form, with Boettinger taking Joseph Veloce of Canada out in the first heat in an exceptional display of speed. The first heat to deviate from form was the eighth where Sam Webster (New Zealand), who had performed below par in his heat, took out his Antipodean rival, Jacob Schmid (Australia), by over half a second. Sadly for Jason Kenny of Great Britain, the writing was on the wall for the championship not to go his way: he was taken out by Hersony Canelon of Venezuela and, with no repechages in the 1/16, will take no further part in the competition.

1/16 Finals Results – Heat winners who progress to the 1/8 finals

1 Stefan BOETTICHER (Germany)
2 Gregory BAUGE (France)
3 Edward DAWKINS (New Zealand)
4 Jeffrey HOOGLAND (Netherlands)
5 Matthew GLAETZER (Australia)
6 Quentin LAFARGUE (France)
7 Francois PERVIS (France)
8 Sam WEBSTER (New Zealand)
9 Michael D’ALMEIDA (France)
10 Hersony CANELON (Venezuela)
11 Peter LEWIS (Australia)
12 Denis DMITRIEV (Russia)

1/8 Finals

The biggest shock of the 1/8 finals came in the first heat when Denis Dmitriev of Russia knocked Boetticher to the repechages. Dmitriev, who took bronze in last year’s world championships, took the win with a 0.078 second margin. The 1/8 finals also became a bad place to be for the two Kiwi representatives, with both Dawkins and Webster being dispatched to the repechages. However, the biggest upset – at least for the home crowd – was when Quentin Lafargue took out his fellow countryman and Gallic hero, Pervis. Pervis seemingly consigned himself to dispatch to the repechages some distance from the line and ended up finishing over half a second behind his teammate.

Pervis’ tactic of backing off proved to be the right one to make as he won the first repechages heat, sending D’Almeida and Boetticher out of the competition. Webster’s booking in the quarter finals was an even easier task as he finished over a quarter of a second clear of his teammate, Dawkins, with Lewis completely out of contention.

1/8 Finals Results – Heat winners who progress to the quarterfinals

1 Denis DMITRIEV (Russia)
2 Gregory BAUGE (France)
3 Hersony CANELON (Venezuela)
4 Jeffrey HOOGLAND (Netherlands)
5 Matthew GLAETZER (Australia)
6 Quentin LAFARGUE (France)

1/8 Finals Results – Repechages winners who progress to the quarterfinals

1 Francois PERVIS (France)
2 Sam WEBSTER (New Zealand)

Men’s Omnium IV (1km Time Trial)

The riders started in reverse order of current position, and the first rider to put down an impressive time was Tim Veldt of the Netherlands. Riding a fast 33 second first 500m, Veldt translated this into a finishing time of 1:02.318. Jonathan Dibben, riding in the sixth heat, could only muster a time fast enough for 15th place (1:04.724).

Lucas Liss of Germany, riding in heat 7, put in the ride of the event. Liss is not an experienced kilo rider, although has significant omnium credentials on his palmares, including the U23 2014 European championship. He finished second in the kilo in his national championship in 2013, and after his ride of 1:01.508 in the omnium event he might like to consider putting himself to the test over 1,000m more often: his time would have given him a top 10 finish in the standalone kilo event.

Glen O’Shea of Australia came through from a slow start to clock a fast time of 1:02.300 for second fastest in the event which also catapulted him into second place overall. Gaviria’s solid time of 1:02.591 was enough for fourth in the event and keep him firmly at the top of the leaderboard. Viviani managed to cling onto third place despite only finishing in tenth place with 1:04.129.

Men’s Omnium IV (1km Time Trial) Results

1 Lucas LISS (Germany) 1:01.508
2 Glenn O’SHEA (Australia) 1:02.300
3 Tim VELDT (Netherlands) 1:02.318
4 Fernando GAVIRIA RENDON (Colombia) 1:02.591
5 Gaël SUTER (Switzerland) 1:02.897
6 Chun Wing LEUNG (Hong Kong) 1:03.461
7 Thomas BOUDAT (France) 1:03.631
8 Hao LIU (China) 1:03.729
9 Jasper
DE BUYST (Belgium) 1:03.895
10 Elia VIVIANI (Italy) 1:04.129

Men’s Omnium V (Flying Lap)

The flying lap was never going to be the event of choice for the current leader, Gaviria, with the event featuring the strong sprinters such as Viviani and Veldt. Damage limitation would be the name of the game for Gaviria, and he certainly achieved this when he stopped the clock at 13.137 seconds for eighth place.

Viviani flew around the track to clock 12.785 seconds, whilst Veldt finished just eight hundredths of a second behind with 12.863. O’Shea did himself justice by clocking 12.926 for fourth place. Nevertheless, Viviani’s win was enough to put him back in second place and narrow the gap to Gaviria to just 12 points. O’Shea moved down one place to third.

Men’s Omnium V (Flying Lap) Results

1 Elia VIVIANI (Italy) 12.785
2 Tim VELDT (Netherlands) 12.863
3 Gaël SUTER (Switzerland) 12.922
4 Glenn O’SHEA (Australia) 12.926
5 Lucas LISS (Germany) 12.986
6 Hao LIU (China) 13.062
7 Viktor MANAKOV (Russia) 13.131
8 Fernando GAVIRIA RENDON (Colombia) 13.137
9 Casper PEDERSEN (Denmark) 13.174
10 Jasper DE BUYST (Belgium) 13.202

Men’s Individual Pursuit Qualifying

The last event of the evening was the men’s individual pursuit. Last year’s champion, Alexander Edmondson of Australia, would be the defending champion with last year’s silver medallist, Stefan Kueng of Switzerland, providing a distinct threat to the Australian. Andy Tennant would be Great Britain’s sole representative, with Ryan Mullen – who finished just outside the medals in the previous year – was representing Ireland. However, all eyes would be on the current record holder, Jack Bobridge. Bobridge, who famously failed in his hour record attempt recently, rode 4:10.534 in 2011 as the world record time in the event. Whilst Bobridge almost certainly is not at that level of fitness, he was still favourite for the win.

Miles Scotson of Australia set the bar in the first heat at 4:23.480 however, with Jack Bobridge riding in the second heat, he was soon demoted to second place with Bobridge stopping the clock in 4:16.219. It took until the fourth heat for another rider to break 4:20 and, much to the delight of the crowd, it came in the form of French rider, Julien Morice. A remarkably consistent ride for the Frenchman saw him cross the line in 4:19.684.

Sadly for Morice, Alexander Serov of Russia pushed him out of the gold medal final places with his time of 4:19.284 the second fastest of the night so far. However, the ride of the final competitor, Kueng, proved to be the deciding race. After his trademark conservative start, Kueng accelerated throughout to finish in 4:17.183 – the second fastest time of the night behind Bobridge, with his last kilometre being 2.5 seconds quicker than his gold medal final partner. Morice and Serov would battle it out for the bronze. Andy Tennant agonisingly finished in fifth place so would not be progressing to the final.

Men’s Individual Pursuit Qualifying (Results)

1 Jack BOBRIDGE (Australia) 4:16.219 (Qualifies for gold medal final)
2 Stefan KUENG (Switzerland) 4:17.183 (Qualifies for gold medal final)
3 Alexander SEROV (Russia) 4:19.284 (Qualifies for bronze medal final)
4 Julien MORICE (France) 4:19.684 (Qualifies for bronze medal final)
5 Andrew TENNANT (Great Britain) 4:20.733
6 Kersten THIELE (Germany) 4:21.724
7 Ryan MULLEN (Ireland) 4:22.669
8 Alexander EDMONDSON (Australia) 4:23.272
9 Miles SCOTSON (Australia) 4:23.480
10 Dylan KENNETT (New Zealand) 4:25.388
11 Dominique CORNU (Belgium) 4:26.032
12 Alexander EVTUSHENKO (Russia) 4:26.875
13 Bobby LEA (United States) 4:27.477
14 Sebastian MORA VEDRI (Spain) 4:27.898
15 Tom BOHLI (Switzerland) 4:29.594
16 Volodymyr DZHUS (Ukraine) 4:30.079
17 Marco COLEDAN (Italy) 4:30.403
18 Liam BERTAZZO (Italy) 4:33.110
19 Aleh AHIYEVICH (Belarus) 4:33.983
20 King Lok CHEUNG (Hong Kong) 4:55.764

Women’s Omnium I (Scratch Race)

The women’s omnium was set to be one of the highlights of the world championships, and kicked off today with the scratch race. 20 women were on the startsheet, including defending champion Sarah Hammer (United States), Laura Trott (Great Britain) who took silver and Annette Edmondson (Australia) who took third place. Also participating were some of the riders who had performed impressively at the recent World Cup series: Jolien D’Hoore of Belgium who was the World Cup winner and Laura Trott’s primary competition in the London round, as well as the Cuban rider, Marlies Garcia Mejias, whose impressive turn of speed in the sprint events lead to her winning the silver medal in the World Cup.

However, the scratch race did not go entirely to plan for the big names. A group of four riders – Ausrine Trebaite (Lithuania), Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), Caroline Ryan (Ireland) and Tatsiana Sharakova (Belarus) – broke away from the main bunch and managed to take a lap. As a result of the lap gain, Trebaite finished in first place, with Dideriksen, Ryan and Sharakova finishing in second to fourth respectively. Edmondson got off to the best start of the main contenders, finishing fifth, with D’Hoore in sixth. Hammer had to settle for sixth, whilst Trott would undoubtedly be disappointed to finish way down in the field in thirteenth place.

Women’s Omnium I (Scratch Race) Results

1 Ausrine TREBAITE (Lithuania)
2 Amalie DIDERIKSEN (Denmark)
3 Caroline RYAN (Ireland)
4 Tatsiana SHARAKOVA (Belarus)
5 Annette EDMONDSON (Australia) -1 lap
6 Jolien D’HOORE (Belgium) -1 lap
7 Kirsten WILD (Netherlands) -1 lap
8 Sarah HAMMER (United States) -1 lap
9 Marlies MEJIAS GARCIA (Cuba) -1 lap
10 Leire OLABERRIA DORRONSORO (Spain) -1 lap

Women’s Omnium II (Individual Pursuit)

The second event in the omnium was the individual pursuit and was the chance for Trott to claw herself back up the rankings after her disappointment in the scratch race. Trott, who was British champion in the individual pursuit in 2013 and collected a silver medal in 2014, would offer stiff competition to those at the top of the leaderboard. Edmondson, the Australian pursuit champion in 2013, would provide veritable competition, with Hammer and Wild also being notably strong.

Tamara Babolina of Russia put down a notably strong ride in the first heat of the competition. Accelerating throughout, the Russian crossed the line in 3:37.328. Trott, riding in the fourth heat, put in an exceptional ride to stop the clock at 3:32.798 with both Wild and Hammer unable to better this in the seventh heat. Edmondson came the closest to unseating Trott with a time just three-hundredths of a second adrift (3:32.831) whilst Julien D’Hoore could only manage a 3:38.812 to finish in eighth.

Nevertheless, Edmondson’s performance was enough to give her the lead in the competition, with Sharakova in second. Wild and Hammer were in second and third respectively, whilst Trott saw her position leapfrog from thirteenth to seventh.

Women’s Omnium II (Individual Pursuit) Results

1 Laura TROTT (Great Britain) 3:32.798
2 Annette EDMONDSON (Australia) 3:32.831
3 Kirsten WILD (Netherlands) 3:34.858
4 Sarah HAMMER (United States) 3:35.505
5 Tatsiana SHARAKOVA (Belarus) 3:35.510
6 Tamara BALABOLINA (Russia) 3:37.328
7 Marlies MEJIAS GARCIA (Cuba) 3:38.204
8 Jolien D’HOORE (Belgium) 3:38.812
9 Leire DORRONSORO OLABERRIA (Spain) 3:39.903
10 Caroline RYAN (Ireland) 3:40.559