Event: 4-8 April 2012
Location: Hisense Arena, Melbourne, Australia
2012 UCI Track World Championships Home Page
Day 1 Report | Day 2 Report | Day 3 Report
Updates: @BCreports | Schedule - Download full schedule
Reports: Phil Ingham & Simon Powers | Images: Guy Swarbrick
Day 4 of the 2012 World Track Championships saw four more medals for Great Britain, including a fifth gold as Laura Trott took her first senior Women's Omnium world title in convincing style, culminating in a win in the final event of six, the 500m Time Trial.
Elsewhere, France's Gregory Bauge won the Sprint title but not before Jason Kenny had given him a big fright in the second heat of their final. Kenny had earlier eliminated Chris Hoy in the semi-finals. Kenny took the silver and Hoy had to be content with the bronze.
Meanwhile, Victoria Pendleton's Keirin campaign ended at the second round stage, whilst Australia's Anna Meares put her Sprint disappointment behind her by taking gold in the final.
Southern hemisphere riders dominated the men's Individual Pursuit with Michael Hepburn taking gold in the final against world record holder Jack Bobridge. Geraint Thomas was fifth in qualifying.
Finally, at the end of a long night, Ben Swift underlined his progress as a bunch race rider with another tactically spotless ride to the silver medal in the Points Race. A brilliant late move by Australia's Cameron Meyer gave the Australians their third gold medal of the day.
Images
Audio Clips
Images from Day 4, session 1MEN’S SPRINT
There were two medals for Great Britain in the Men’s Sprint, but the title went to Gregory Bauge of France, who had looked the best rider in the field throughout the 2 day’s racing. Jason Kenny took silver and Chris Hoy bronze.
The gold medal final was a repeat of the 2011 match-up, pitting Jason Kenny against Gregory Bauge. The first heat was close right up until the last banking, with Kenny holding the front of the race, but then Bauge turned on that extra speed which currently sets him apart from the rest of the world’s top sprinters to cruise over the line a wheel clear.
The second heat was a thriller is two acts: firstly Kenny went from the start and bulleted into a big lead as Bauge struggled to react to the surprise move. Bauge finally caught Kenny going into the last corner, but the Frenchman was gasping and Kenny held on to cross the line first as Bauge swung up, a beaten man. However, the drama wasn't over and there was disappointment for the British rider when, after lengthy deliberations, the commissaries relegated him for crossing the sprinters’ line twice in that final corner.
It was a downbeat conclusion to a match-up which was begging for a third race decider. Kenny’s first infringement was marginal at worst, whilst the second came after Bauge had given up. But it was a decision consistent with the strict rule applications seen throughout these championships.
In the ride off for bronze against Shane Perkins of Australia, Hoy won the first heat, leading out, though he did go outside the sprinters’ line on the final bend. However, this did not attract the commisaires' disapproval. Perkins looked a beaten man in the second heat which Hoy won at a canter.
Results
Men's Sprint Medal Finals
Gold: Gregory Bauge FRA beat Jason Kenny GBR 2 - 0
Bronze: Chris Hoy GBR beat Shane Perkins AUS 2 - 0
Earlier, Gregory Bauge took the first heat of his semi-final against Shane Perkins in the Men’s Sprint with ease, almost riding away from his opponent, who did nothing wrong but simply couldn’t go with the Frenchman as he accelerated in the last half lap. The second heat saw a rapid burst from Bauge with a lap to go, taking him clear of his opponent who, although he gave chase, knew he was beaten well before the line
The Hoy verses Kenny semi-final clash had the Olympic selection sub-plot hanging over it: it’s widely thought that the winner will ride the event at the Olympics. That remains to be confirmed, but Kenny drew first blood, leading out and holding off Hoy brilliantly through the final bend, saving his last effort until 150m to go. The margin, a tyre, seems to be the norm for these championships.
The second heat saw Hoy determined to boss it from the front. He went hard with a lap to go and opened up a good gap, but Kenny closed him down very convincingly down the back straight and came round the Scot to take the win by a decent margin of perhaps a wheel.
Results
Men’s Sprint Semi-Finals
Gregory Bauge FRA beat Shane Perkins AUS 2 - 0
Jason Kenny GBR beat Chris Hoy GBR 2 – 0
WOMEN'S OMNIUM - DAY 2
Laura Trott claimed her second world title of the Championships, winning the Omnium with a second day of gritty and consistent performances, claiming third in the pursuit, a tactically sound 13th in the Scratch race before wrapping up the title with a twinkle-toed win in the 500m Time Trial.
Speaking just before heading to the medal ceremony, Laura said "I'm over the moon. I didn't come here thinking I would win the Omnium so it's a really nice feeling. It's a really big thing for me to win."
Trott began day 2 of the competition with another solid performance, finishing third in the individual pursuit with a time of 3:31.561. That was good enough to move her into the overall lead ahead of Annette Edmondson of Australia who was fourth.
The penultimate event, the Scratch Race was, as expected, a highly tactical affair, with the leading contenders Trott, Edmondson, Whitten and Hammer watching each other closely. A large group of lower placed riders took advantage of this to move clear with some 10 laps to go and they took the leading places at the finish, but without claiming a lap.
Back in the second group, Edmondson was the first of the contenders to move, 6 laps out and was swiftly marked by Trott. Hammer then took up the chase and led the second group, including all the leaders over the line, claiming 9th. Whitten took 11th and Trott 13th. Vitally, for Trott, Australia’s Edmondon was a place further back in 14th. That gave Trott a two point advantage over Edmondson going into the final event, the 500m Time Trial. Whitten and Hammer closed up on the two leaders, but perhaps not enough to challenge for gold!
The final event of the Women’s Omnium, the 500m Time Trial all came down to the last two heats, where the medals were to be settled. First the USA’s Sarah Hammer beat Tara Whitten to ensure she would at least pick up the bronze, recording the second fastest time to that point, just under a tenth of a second faster than the Canadian.
The final heat paired Laura Trott and Edmondson and it was the 19 year old British rider who began the quicker recording the fastest first lap of 20.053s, but Edmondson was flying too. Indeed the Australian was closing the gap for most of the last lap, but she couldn’t quite get back on terms and Trott went on to record the fastest time and claim the world title in style. Edmondson was second in the race and in the event overall, three points down.
Results
Women's Omnium Event 4 - Individual Pursuit
1 WHITTEN Tara CAN 3:30.011
2 HAMMER Sarah USA 3:31.651
3 TROTT Laura GBR 3:31.789
4 EDMONDSON Annette AUS 3:32.454
5 ROMANYUTA Evgenia RUS 3:36.049
6 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana BLR 3:37.528
7 GALYUK Svitlana UKR 3:38.111
8 HUANG Li CHN 3:38.894
9 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO Leire ESP 3:38.938
10 BRENNAUER Lisa GER 3:40.621
11 D'HOORE Jolien BEL 3:41.749
12 KASE Kanako JPN 3:42.145
13 JEULAND Pascale FRA 3:42.514
14 MEJIAS GARCIA Marlies CUB 3:42.593
15 WOJTYRA Malgorzata POL 3:43.073
16 KIESANOWSKI Joanne NZL 3:43.594
17 ARREOLA NAVARRO Sofia MEX 3:43.882
18 GONZALEZ GARCIA Angie Sabrina VEN 3:48.501
19 HSIAO Mei Yu TPE 3:48.701
20 LEE Min Hye KOR 3:49.255
21 MACHACOVA Jarmila CZE 3:49.534
22 MENG Zhao Juan HKG 3:58.037
23 GARCIA ORREGO Diana Maria COL 4:07.710
Women's Omnium Event 5 - Scratch Race
1 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO Leire ESP
2 D'HOORE Jolien BEL
3 ARREOLA NAVARRO Sofia MEX
4 HUANG Li CHN
5 KASE Kanako JPN
6 HSIAO Mei Yu TPE
7 MEJIAS GARCIA Marlies CUB
8 GONZALEZ GARCIA Angie Sabrina VEN
9 HAMMER Sarah USA
10 KIESANOWSKI Joanne NZL
11 WHITTEN Tara CAN
12 ROMANYUTA Evgenia RUS
13 TROTT Laura GBR
14 EDMONDSON Annette AUS
15 BRENNAUER Lisa GER
16 GALYUK Svitlana UKR
17 MENG Zhao Juan HKG
18 WOJTYRA Malgorzata POL
19 LEE Min Hye KOR
20 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana BLR
21 JEULAND Pascale FRA
22 MACHACOVA Jarmila CZE
23 GARCIA ORREGO Diana Maria COL
Women's Omnium Event 6 - 500m Time Trial
1 TROTT Laura GBR 35.173
2 EDMONDSON Annette AUS 35.180
3 HSIAO Mei Yu TPE 35.933
4 HAMMER Sarah USA 36.171
5 MEJIAS GARCIA Marlies CUB 36.281
6 WHITTEN Tara CAN 36.291
7 KIESANOWSKI Joanne NZL 36.381
8 HUANG Li CHN 36.387
9 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana BLR 36.395
10 D'HOORE Jolien BEL 36.414
11 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO Leire ESP 36.423
12 WOJTYRA Malgorzata POL 36.436
13 KASE Kanako JPN 36.516
14 GARCIA ORREGO Diana Maria COL 36.763
15 ROMANYUTA Evgenia RUS 36.857
16 GONZALEZ GARCIA Angie Sabrina VEN 36.885
17 BRENNAUER Lisa GER 36.963
18 LEE Min Hye KOR 37.085
19 MENG Zhao Juan HKG 37.098
20 GALYUK Svitlana UKR 37.694
21 ARREOLA NAVARRO Sofia MEX 37.880
22 JEULAND Pascale FRA 38.837
23 MACHACOVA Jarmila CZE 39.367
Women's Omnium Final Standings
GOLD TROTT Laura GBR 28
SILVER EDMONDSON Annette AUS 31
BRONZE HAMMER Sarah USA 36
4 WHITTEN Tara CAN 39
5 HUANG Li CHN 53
6 ROMANYUTA Evgenia RUS 56
7 KIESANOWSKI Joanne NZL 61
8 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO Leire ESP 62
9 D'HOORE Jolien BEL 63
10 HSIAO Mei Yu TPE 64
11 BRENNAUER Lisa GER 68
12 WOJTYRA Malgorzata POL 69
13 SHARAKOVA Tatsiana BLR 71
14 KASE Kanako JPN 79
15 GONZALEZ GARCIA Angie Sabrina VEN 79
16 MEJIAS GARCIA Marlies CUB 84
17 GALYUK Svitlana UKR 87
18 ARREOLA NAVARRO Sofia MEX 94
19 MENG Zhao Juan HKG 94
20 JEULAND Pascale FRA 103
21 MACHACOVA Jarmila CZE 109
22 LEE Min Hye KOR 116
23 GARCIA ORREGO Diana Maria COL 150
MEN'S POINTS RACE
Australia’s Cameron Meyer won a classy Points Race with a sensational effort in the last three kilometres, lapping the field in the company of Aaron Gate of New Zealand and boosting himself into the gold medal position just when it seemed he’d missed out. Great Britain’s Ben Swift took the first two sprints and rode a tactically perfect race, picking up points all the way and clinching silver with five for the win in the final gallop.
For much of the first half of the race it was Swift and the Spaniard Elorriaga who were vying for the lead, trading points along the way. In the second half Belgium’s Kenny De Ketele closed them down with a series of big point scoring sprints, taking the lead with the end in sight.
Cameron Meyer had made several attempts to split the field but then carefully took a break at the back of the field before launching himself off the front again inside the last 20 laps. Aaron Gate joined him and suddenly the field split in two groups behind this leading pair.
De Ketele found himself in the back group and tried to drive it along to keep it clear of Meyer, but it was fruitless and Meyer bridged, taking 20 points for the lap and another five for an intermediate sprint 10 laps from the finish. Swift was in the front group of the broken peloton and made sure he clinched the last sprint to secure silver. De Ketele took the bronze.
Results
1 MEYER Cameron AUS 33 points
2 SWIFT Ben GBR 32
3 DE KETELE Kenny BEL 30
4 GATE Aaron NZL 28
5 ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR Unai ESP 24
6 CICCONE Angelo ITA 19
7 RATAJCZYK Rafal POL 10
8 KADLEC Milan CZE 6
9 DILLIER Silvan SUI 6
10 TUYCHIEV Vladimir UZB 4
11 KWOK Ho Ting HKG 3
12 GRAF Andreas AUT 2
13 SEPULVEDA Luis CHI 1
14 SCHEP Peter NED 1
15 STEIGMILLER Jakob GER 1
16 BRISSE Vivien FRA - 20
17 ALHAMMADI Yousif UAE - 20
MEN'S INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT
Michael Hepburn won the final of the Individual Pursuit with a brilliantly paced effort to beat world record holder and fellow Aussie Jack Bobridge. Bobridge went off fast, perhaps looking to unsettle his less experienced team-mate and for three quarters of the race it looked like it might work, but he tired and his pace dropped whilst his rival relentlessly wound him in. Hepburn went into the lead with some 2 laps to go and could enjoy his last lap as he went on to claim gold.
New Zealand's Westley Gough prevented a clean sweep of the medals for the Australians beating Rohan Dennis in a tight ride-off for bronze.
Run off during the first session of the day, the Qualification round of the Men’s Individual Pursuit was dominated by Antipodean riders, with Australians Michael Hepburn and Jack Bobridge going through to contest the gold medal final and fellow countryman Dennin Rohan facing Westley Gough from New Zealand in the bronze medal final. Hepburn’s time of 4:13.224, though quick, was still some way off Bobridge’s world record time of 4:10.534, set just over a year ago in Sydney.
Britain’s Geraint Thomas qualified fifth fastest, a couple of seconds outside his p.b. with a time of 4:17.265. He later tweeted "Rode that qualifier like I was 17 again. Start too fast, finish too slow... Gutted not to get a second chance tonight."
Results
Men's Individual Pursuit Medal Finals
Gold medal final
HEPBURN Michael AUS 4:15.839 beat BOBRIDGE Jack AUS 4:16.313
Bronze medal final
GOUGH Westley NZL 4:16.945 beat DENNIS Rohan AUS 4:18.594
Men's Individual Pursuit Qualification
1 HEPBURN Michael AUS 4:13.224
2 BOBRIDGE Jack AUS 4:14.783
3 DENNIS Rohan AUS 4:16.051
4 GOUGH Westley NZL 4:17.001
5 THOMAS Geraint GBR 4:17.265
6 LATHAM Peter NZL 4:18.152
7 CORNU Dominique BEL 4:19.479
8 MAEZTU BILLELABEITIA Asier ESP 4:23.334
9 LABEQUE Kevin FRA 4:23.859
10 DE POORTERE Ingmar BEL 4:25.931
11 KAYKOV Valery RUS 4:26.333
12 HEIMANS Levi NED 4:26.569
13 FOLSACH Casper DEN 4:26.762
14 JANG Sunjae KOR 4:26.946
15 MORA VEDRI Sebastian ESP 4:28.094
16 SCHAEFER Stefan GER 4:31.763
17 IMHOF Claudio SUI 4:33.444
18 OMIRZAKOV Dias KAZ 4:35.253
19 BRAVO Edison CHI 4:35.716
20 VELDT Tim NED 4:35.977
21 CHEUNG King Lok HKG 4:37.450
WOMEN'S KEIRIN
No-one could begrudge Anna Meares her win in the final of the Keirin. The popular Aussie had endured a strange championships to this point, looking the pick of the women sprinters but missing out on the gold medals. However, to the delight of the crowd, she put that right with a big effort coming round the rest of the field in the closing lap and a half to win by half a bike length. Russia’s Gnidenko was second and German’s Vogel third.
Earlier in the day, Victoria Pendleton got off to just the start she would have wished to avoid, missing out in her opening round heat and having to put her bruised body through the Repechage to qualify for the second round. Anna Meares, Clara Sanchez and Shuang Guo were amongst the riders making it through at the first attempt.
The first heat of the second round of the Women’s Keirin saw Anna Meares lead it out effortlessly for the last three laps, looking determined to make up for her run of questionable luck so far in the championships.
In the second heat, Victoria Pendleton went to the front as soon as the derny turned off and led it out. It looked a good move, but ultimately she ran out of steam in the last half lap and faded to sixth. Former champion Sanchez of France took the head from Germany’s Vogel and Guo of China. Pendleton finished her campaign with an understandably tired looking last place in the minor final.
Results
Women's Keirin Finals
Final 1 to 6
1 MEARES Anna AUS
2 GNIDENKO Ekaterina RUS
3 VOGEL Kristina GER
4 GUO Shuang CHN
5 SANCHEZ Clara FRA
6 DI Mu CHN
Final 7 to 12
7 CLAIR Sandie FRA
8 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU
9 MCCULLOCH Kaarle AUS
10 TSOS Olena UKR
11 MUSTAPA Fatehah MAS
12 PENDLETON Victoria GBR
Women's Keirin Round 2
Heat 1
1 MEARES Anna AUS
2 DI Mu CHN
3 GNIDENKO Ekaterina RUS
4 MCCULLOCH Kaarle AUS
5 CLAIR Sandie FRA
6 TSOS Olena UKR
Heat 2
1 SANCHEZ Clara FRA
2 VOGEL Kristina GER
3 GUO Shuang CHN
4 MUSTAPA Fatehah MAS
5 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU
6 PENDLETON Victoria GBR
Women's Keirin Round 1
Heat 1
1 MEARES Anna AUS
2 VOGEL Kristina GER
3 LEE Wai Sze HKG
4 HANSEN Natasha NZL
5 KANIS Willy NED
Heat 2
1 SANCHEZ Clara FRA
2 MCCULLOCH Kaarle AUS
3 PENDLETON Victoria GBR
4 WELTE Miriam GER
5 BARANOVA Viktoria RUS
Heat 3
1 GUO Shuang CHN
2 CLAIR Sandie FRA
3 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU
4 SULLIVAN Monique CAN
5 SCHOFIELD Katie NZL
6 TSOS Olena UKR
Heat 4
1 DI Mu CHN
2 MUSTAPA Fatehah MAS
3 GUERRA RODRIGUEZ Lisandra CUB
4 GNIDENKO Ekaterina RUS
5 LARREAL CHIRINOS Daniela Grelui VEN
6 LOHVINAVA Maryia BLR
Women's Keirin Round 1 - Repechage
Heat 1
1 GNIDENKO Ekaterina RUS
2 LEE Wai Sze HKG
3 SCHOFIELD Katie NZL
Heat 2
1 PENDLETON Victoria GBR
2 SULLIVAN Monique CAN
3 BARANOVA Viktoria RUS
Heat 3
1 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU
2 KANIS Willy NED
3 WELTE Miriam GER
4 LOHVINAVA Maryia BLR
Heat 4
1 TSOS Olena UKR
2 GUERRA RODRIGUEZ Lisandra CUB
3 HANSEN Natasha NZL
4 LARREAL CHIRINOS Daniela Grelui VEN
