Report and results from the last day of the final round of the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup 2016-17 in Los Angeles.
Women
Sprint
Qualifying 200m
Mathilde Gros of France set a atime of 11.037 in heat 3 of the 200m qualifying to get the ball rolling among the front runners. The first rider to get close was Martha Bayona of Colombia who went second on 11.225 a third of the way through the 24 heats.
That kicked off a rash of fast times with China’s Lili Liui going second on 11.208 immediately afterwards. Emma Hinze of Germany clocked 11.124 to take over in second place for a few minutes before first Natasha Hansen of New Zealand (11.118) and then Anastasiia Voinova of Gaprom-Rusvelo (11.057) slotted in below Gros.
It wasn’t until the final heat that Gros’ time finally fell, with Kristina Vogel of Germany setting a time of 11.037 to join Gros, Voinova and Hansen in the 1/8 Round.
Results
1 VOGEL Kristina GER 10.896
2 GROS Mathilde FRA 11.037
3 VOINOVA Anastasiia GAZ 11.057
4 HANSEN Natasha NZL 11.118
5 HINZE Emma GER 11.124
6 LIU Lili CHN 11.208
7 O’BRIEN Kate CAN 11.208
8 BAYONA PINEDA Martha COL 11.225
9 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU 11.245
10 BASOVA Liubov UKR 11.259
11 MAROZAITE Migle LTU 11.293
12 SHMELEVA Daria GAZ 11.304
13 JAMES Rachel WAL 11.328
14 HAN Jun CHN 11.386
15 GAVIRIA RENDON Juliana COL 11.412
16 STARIKOVA Olena UKR 11.478
17 MAEDA Kayono JPN 11.489
18 KISELEVA Tatiana RUS 11.526
1/16 Final
The highlight of the round of 16 was home rider Mandy Marquardt’s elbow-to-elbow battle with Daria Shmeleva of Gazprom-Rusvelo – with the US rider overcoming her qualifying position to progress. Lyubov Basova of Ukraine, Rachel James of Team USN, Jun Han of China, Julian Gaviria of Colombia and Olena Starikova of Ukraine all overcame slower opposition while Tatania Kiseleva of Russia managed to squeeze past Migle Marozaite of Lithuania who had qualified seven places and three tenths of a second quicker than her.
Results
Heat 1
1 BASOVA Liubov UKR *
2 MAEDA Kayono JPN
Heat 2
1 KISELEVA Tatiana RUS *
2 MAROZAITE Migle LTU
Heat 3
2 MARQUARDT Mandy USA *
2 SHMELEVA Daria GAZ
Heat 4
1 JAMES Rachel WAL *
2 DEBORAH IND
Heat 5
1 HAN Jun CHN *
2 WANG Tzu Chun TCT
Heat 6
1 GAVIRIA RENDON Juliana COL *
2 ARAIZ AGUIRRE Gudane ESP
Heat 7
1 STARIKOVA Olena UKR *
2 RAJESH Nayana IND
1/8 Final
The four fastest qualifiers all made the most of their rest – Vogel, Basova, Voinova and Hansen all progressing, Hansen at the expense of Marquardt. Hinze and Kate O’Brien of Canada went through as their seeding would have suggested but Jun Han of China knocked out her faster compatriot Liu and Starikova again punched above her weight, eliminating Bayona.
Results
Heat 1
1 VOGEL Kristina GER *
2 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU
Heat 2
1 BASOVA Liubov UKR *
2 GROS Mathilde FRA
Heat 3
1 VOINOVA Anastasiia GAZ *
2 KISELEVA Tatiana RUS
Heat 4
1 HANSEN Natasha NZL *
2 MARQUARDT Mandy USA
Heat 5
1 HINZE Emma GER *
2 JAMES Rachel WAL
Heat 6
1 HAN Jun CHN *
2 LIU Lili CHN
Heat 7
1 O’BRIEN Kate CAN *
2 GAVIRIA RENDON Juliana COL
Heat 8
1 STARIKOVA Olena UKR *
2 BAYONA PINEDA Martha COL
Quarter Finals
Starikova’s run continued as she knocked out Hansen – although she had to work for it, needing a decider to get through to the Semi Finals. Vogel, Voinova and Basova joined her without too many dramas.
Results
Heat 1
1 VOGEL Kristina GER **
2 HINZE Emma GER
Heat 2
1 BASOVA Liubov UKR **
2 HAN Jun CHN
Heat 3
1 VOINOVA Anastasiia GAZ **
2 O’BRIEN Kate CAN
Heat 4
1 STARIKOVA Olena UKR * *
2 HANSEN Natasha NZL *
Semi Finals
To nobody’s great surprise, Vogel breezed past what was likely to be her biggest test, dispatching Voinova in two. Indeed, she received a warning for breezing past her opponent on the cote d’azur – but the result stood. Starikova finally met her match in the other Semi Final – and it was her team mate Basova who managed to get the better of her in the end – again, making it through to the Gold medal rider without the need for a decider.
Results
Heat 1
1 VOGEL Kristina GER * *
2 VOINOVA Anastasiia GAZ
Heat 2
1 BASOVA Liubov UKR * *
2 STARIKOVA Olena UKR
Finals
Vogel, on current form, looks unstoppable. She took the first ride at a canter and, although Basova ran her closet in the second, she took the win and the Gold medal all the same. The Bronze medal rides saw Voinova in control, winning both by an almost identical distance.
Results
GOLD VOGEL Kristina GER * *
SILVER BASOVA Liubov UKR
BRONZE VOINOVA Anastasiia GAZ * *
4 STARIKOVA Olena UKR
Individual Pursuit
Qualifying
As expected, the USA’s Chloe Dygert went off first and set a time nobody else could come near. Her 3:28..77 was a full four seconds clear of her nearest challenger, Ashlee Ankudinoff of Australia on 3:32.894. Justyne Kaczkowska of Poland looked as though she might be in with a shout of a Gold medal ride, but faded to finish on 3:35.086 – and Jaime Nielsen of New Zealand also went out hard but dropped off the pace to take the other spot in the Bronze medal ride in 3:36.377.
Results
1 DYGERT Chloe USA 3:28.775
2 ANKUDINOFF Ashlee AUS 3:32.894
3 KACZKOWSKA Justyna POL 3:35.086
4 NIELSEN Jaime NZL 3:36.377
5 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana MCC 3:38.583
6 PATTARO Francesca ITA 3:38.968
7 BORRAS Marion FRA 3:41.556
8 FOREMAN-MACKEY Annie CAN 3:41.790
9 PENSAARI Pia FIN 3:42.309
10 TURVEY Anna IRL 3:43.639
Finals
Kacxkowska got off to a slightly better start in the Bronze medal ride – leading by five hundredths after the opening lap – but half a lap later Nielsen was in the lead and would never be challenged. She was two tenths up after the opening kilometre and had almost doubled that by the halfway mark. The Kiwi finished in a time of 3:34.056 – almost a second up on the Pole.
Ankudinoff was never close to Dygert’s pace – and, indeed, would finish a second slower than Kacxkowska. But Dygert was oblivious – she put her head down and got on with the job – 1.4 seconds up after a kilometre, two seconds by half way and three seconds with four to go – at which point the Australian hit the wall and the American rider opened up a six and a half second lead…
Results
GOLD DYGERT Chloe USA 3:28.431
SILVER ANKUDINOFF Ashlee AUS 3:35.921
BRONZE NIELSEN Jaime NZL 3:34.056
4 KACZKOWSKA Justyna POL 3:34.973
Madison
An entertaining Women’s Madison saw a trans-Tasman duel between Amy Cure and Alexandra Manly of Australia and New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond and Racquel Sheath – with Italy and France in a trans-Alp battle for the Bronze.
Remarkably, the Australians scored in every sprint to rack up 20 points – although they didn’t actually win one – with the Kiwis taking just three second places in the first 7 sprints – leapfrogging Italy, who’d taken a win a second and four third places – by taking the 10 point double points finale. France, by contrast, won more sprints than any other team – three – but only placed in one other sprint – in fourth – to leave them two points away from the Bronze medal.
Results
GOLD Australia (CURE Amy, MANLY Alexandra) 20
SILVER New Zealand (DRUMMOND Michaela, SHEATH Racquel) 19
BRONZE Italy (BARBIERI Rachele, CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia) 18
4 France (BERTHON Laurie, DEMAY Coralie) 16
5 Great Britain (DICKINSON Eleanor, BARKER Elinor) 15
6 Russia (ZABELINSKAYA Olga, ROMANYUTA Evgeniya) 8
7 Canada (ROORDA Stephanie, BROWN Laura) 3
8 Mexico (SALAZAR VAZQUEZ Lizbeth, Rocio)
9 Ukraine (KLYACHINA Oksana, NAHIRNA Anna)
10 United States (GEIST Kimberly, ZUBRIS Kimberly Ann)
Scratch
In the closing stages of the Women’s Scratch Race Jasmin Duehring of Canada broke away from the field and ground out a lap gain – taking station at the back of the pack to cruise home for the Gold medal. What she hadn’t noticed was that Tetyana Klimchenko of Ukraine had chased her round and slipped under her at the bottom of the track and rejoined the bunch.
When Missy Erickson of the USA crashed heavily on the bell lap, Duehring stayed high on the fence out of trouble and followed the bunch sprint home. Elinor Barker of Great Britain – straight off the back of the Madison – won the gallop for Bronze, while Klimchenko – pretty much the last rider, bar Duehring – took Gold.
Results
GOLD KLIMCHENKO Tetyana UKR
SILVER DUEHRING Jasmin CAN
BRONZE BARKER Elinor GBR -1
4 BARBIERI Rachele ITA -1
5 SUZUKI Nao JPN -1
6 HUANG Li CHN -1
7 BAKER Georgia AUS -1
8 BASSO Laura CTF -1
9 KEITH Alysha NZL -1
10 DELZENNE Elise FRA -1
Men
Keirin
1st round
There were no major shocks in terms of results in the first round of the Men’s Keirin but there was plenty of drama. Francois Pervis of France squeezed through and impossibly small gap to win the first heat and go through with Muhammad Sahrom of Team ISN. Andrii Vynokourov of Ukraine had to settle for a place in the Repechages.
In the second, Cali winner Fabian Puerta of Colombia and Hugo Barrette of Canada went through – and they were joined by Lewis Oliva of Team USN and Kwesi Browne in Trinidad and Tobago from the third heat, which saw Yudai Nitta of Dream Seekers’ rear tub roll off and his wheel explode on the exit of turn four on the run in to the bell. The Japanese rider escaped relatively unhurt – but not so his Mavic Comete. Sam Webster of New Zealand and Vasilijus Lendel of Lithuania progressed from the final heat.
Results
Heat 1
1 PERVIS Francois FRA
2 SAHROM Muhammad Shah Firdaus ISN
3 SHURSHIN Nikita GAZ
4 MORENO SANCHEZ Jose ESP
5 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR
6 IM Chaebin KOR
Heat 2
1 PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando COL
2 BARRETTE Hugo CAN
3 CLARKE Thomas AUS
4 SARNECKI Rafal POL
5 SZALONTAY Sandor HUN
6 DUBCHENKO Aleksandr RUS
7 CECI Francesco ITA
Heat 3
1 OLIVA Lewis WAL
2 BROWNE Kwesi TTO
3 CECI Davide CTF
4 SUOZZI Dominic USA
5 OMELCHENKO Sergii AZE
DNF NITTA Yudai DRS
Heat 4
1 WEBSTER Sam NZL
2 LENDEL Vasilijus LTU
3 KANG Shih Feng TCT
4 KELEMEN Pavel CZE
5 WATANABE Kazunari JPN
6 MULLEN Eoin IRL
Repechages
Vynokourov made it through the Repechages, along with Sergi Omolochenko of Azerbaijan, Chaebin Im of Korea and Kazunari Watanabe of Japan.
Results
Heat 1
1 OMELCHENKO Sergii AZE
2 KELEMEN Pavel CZE
3 DUBCHENKO Aleksandr RUS
4 SHURSHIN Nikita GAZ
Heat 2
1 IM Chaebin KOR
2 CLARKE Thomas AUS
3 SUOZZI Dominic USA
4 SZALONTAY Sandor HUN
Heat 3
1 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR
2 SARNECKI Rafal POL
3 CECI Davide CTF
4 MULLEN Eoin IRL
Heat 4
1 WATANABE Kazunari JPN
2 KANG Shih Feng TCT
3 MORENO SANCHEZ Jose ESP
4 CECI Francesco ITA
5 NITTA Yudai DRS
Second Round
Webster was the most notable casualty in the second round – deciding to lead the three lap sprint out from the off and fading on the final lap. Watanabe won the heat from Pervis and Barette. In the second heat it was a close run thing between Puerta and Oliva, with Sahrom of Malaysia taking the final spot in the Final.
Results
Heat 1
1 WATANABE Kazunari JPN
2 PERVIS Francois FRA
3 BARRETTE Hugo CAN
4 OMELCHENKO Sergii AZE
5 WEBSTER Sam NZL
6 BROWNE Kwesi TTO
Heat 2
1 PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando COL
2 OLIVA Lewis WAL
3 SAHROM Muhammad Shah Firdaus ISN
4 IM Chaebin KOR
5 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR
6 LENDEL Vasilijus LTU
Finals
A big crash at the bell in the Minor Final saw Browne careering towards the photographers at the finish line and Im highsiding spectacularly in his efforts to avoid the Trinidad and Tobago rider. Vynokourov took 7th place.
Another tight finish in a spirited final saw Puerta take his second Keirin Gold in a week, ahead of Barette and Sahrom with Oliva just missing out on a medal.
Results
GOLD PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando COL
SILVER BARRETTE Hugo CAN
BRONZE SAHROM Muhammad Shah Firdaus ISN
4 OLIVA Lewis WAL
5 PERVIS Francois FRA
6 WATANABE Kazunari JPN
7 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR
8 LENDEL Vasilijus LTU
9 OMELCHENKO Sergii AZE
10 WEBSTER Sam NZL
DNF IM Chaebin KOR
DNF BROWNE Kwesi TTO
Team Sprint
1st round
The French won the opening heat of the Men’s Team Sprint to guarantee Melvin Landernau, Sebastien Vigier and Charlie Conord a place in a medal rider – they’d just need to wait a little longer to see which ride 44.553 would get them into.
Maciej Bielecki, Mateusz Rudyk and Krzystof Maksel clocked 44.829 in the second heat to put Poland in the hat with France, but Erik Balzer, Max Niederlag and Eric Engler of Germany won their heat in a time of 44.956 to put them in the ride for Gold and Poland in the Bronze medal final.
With New Zealand in the final heat, France’s fate was pretty much sealed and Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins – resplendent in their World Champions jerseys – joined Germany with a 43.620.
Results
Heat 1
1 France (LANDERNEAU Melvin, VIGIER Sebastien, CONOR Charlie) 44.553 Qualified for Bronze Medal Ride
2 Belarus (VEREMCHUK Evgeni, ZAITSAU Artsiom, NOVIK Uladzislau) 44.829
Heat 2
1 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, RUDYK Mateusz, MAKSEL Krzysztof) 44.232 Qualified for Bronze Medal Ride
2 Japan (NAGASAKO Yoshitaku, WATANABE Kazunari, WAKIMOTO Yuta) 45.061
Heat 3
1 Germany (BALZER Erik, NIEDERLAG Max, ENGLER Eric) 43.959 Qualified for Gold Medal
2 Colombia (PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando, MURILLO MINOTA Ruben Dario, RAMIREZ MORALES Santiago) 44.956
Heat 4
1 New Zealand (MITCHELL Ethan, WEBSTER Sam, DAWKINS Edward) 43.620 Qualified for Gold Medal
2 Russia 44.483 (YAKUSHEVSKIY Pavel, SAMUSENKO Kirill, TKACHEV Aleksei)
Finals
The battle between Germany and New Zealand ebbed and flowed as Ethan Mitchell pulled out two tenths of a second over Erik Balzer in the opening 250 metres. Max Niederlag clawed half the deficit back and then Eddie Dawkins restored the advantage, New Zealand taking Gold in a time of 43.710 with Germany clocking 43.974 for Silver. Poland took the Bronze by over a second in a time of 44.184.
Results
GOLD New Zealand (MITCHELL Ethan, WEBSTER Sam, DAWKINS Edward) 43.710
SILVER Germany (BALZER Erik, NIEDERLAG Max, ENGLER Eric) 43.974
BRONZE Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, RUDYK Mateusz, MAKSEL Krzysztof) 44.184
4 France 45.321 (VIGIER Sebastien, CONOR Charlie, PERVIS Francois)
Madison
When the Madison rules were changed from laps gained first and points scored second, to a simple points system with 20 points for a lap game, many people said it would change the nature of the race. Ireland’s Felix English and Mark Downey have set about trying to disprove that theory – taking Silver last week in Cali and Gold this week thanks to two lap gains.
This week, as last, their lead came late and was always vulnerable to another lap gain from the pursuing Danes – this week in the form of Julius Johansen and Casper Pedersen. Last week the Danes got the second lap and won by virtue of a higher sprint points tally – this week they were potentially in the same position but, after a heart stopping final few laps, the gain was beyond them.
The only other teams to gain a lap – Campbell Stewart and Thomas Sexton for New Zealand and Tristan Marguet and Gael Suter of Switzerland – took third and fourth. Not so different, after all.
Results
GOLD Ireland (ENGLISH Felix, DOWNEY Mark) 57
SILVER Denmark (JOHANSEN Julius, PEDERSEN Casper) 45
BRONZE New Zealand (STEWART Campbell, SEXTON Thomas) 44
4 Switzerland (MARGUET Tristan, SUTER Gael) 42
5 Belarus (KARALIOK Yauheni, TSISHKOU Raman) 10
6 France (DENIS Thomas, KNEISKY Morgan)
7 Poland (PSZCZOLARSKI Wojciech, STANISZEWSKI Daniel) 8
8 Ukraine (SHEVCHUK Taras, GLADYSH Roman) 7
9 Team USN (HARRISON Samuel, MOULD Jonathan) 5
10 Spain (CANELLAS SANCHEZ Xavier, AMORES PALACIOS Julio Alberto) 3
11 Russia (PISKUNOV Maksim, ROSTOVTSEV Sergei) 2
12 Italy (GIORDANI Carloalberto, CASTEGNARO Francesco) -14
13 Kazakhstan (PANASSENKO Nikita, GAINEYEV Robert) -15
DNF Japan (IMAMURA Shunsuke, KURABAYASHI Takuto) -40