Friday 9th December at Manchester Velodrome, Day 1 Track World Cup Event
The first day of the Manchester Track World Cup saw Great Britain win three Gold medals and a Silver medal. In the men's 1km TT Chris Hoy took Gold with Jason Queally in Silver Paul Manning took the Gold in the men's Individual Pursuit.
World Sprint Champion Victoria Pendleton riding with the Science in Sport trade team has won another Gold medal in the Sprint, this time against her arch rival Natallia Tsylinskaya from Belarus. Seeming to glide through to the final round of the Sprint event, Pendleton started off high on the banking with Tsylinskaya keeping her up by the fence Victoria saw a gap and went for it with Tsylinskaya fighting back to keep her air of authority. Both riders dropped down the banking for the sprint, the Belarus rider left the track for a few seconds and then pushing her way back on whilst Victoria stayed firmly on the right side of the blue.
Tsylinskaya crossed the line first but all eyes were on the scoreboard to see if she'd be relegated for leaving the track. After what seemed like an eternity the win was overturned with Victoria taking the Gold medal and Tsylinskaya taking Silver.
In Victoria's interview with Eurosport she comments "I wasn't sure what the result was......it's not the way I'd like to win, I'd rather cross the line first to win." She went on to explain those long moments of waiting for the final result " I was thinking, is it, isn't it, is it? Has she, hasn't she?"
Even though Victoria's current World Champion staus means she doesnt have to worry about qualifying for the World Championships she's been training as hard as ever. It certainly paid off!
On a more sombre note Nicole Cooke crashed badly in the Women's Points race and we hear she has suffered several broken bones. Let's hope Nicole makes a speedy recovery and can back to her winter training soon. Get well!
Points Race
- 1st: Sarah Hammer (USA)
- 2nd:Yan Li (Chi)
- 3rd: Gema Torrecilla (Spa)
Sprint
- 1st: Victoria Pendleton (Gbr)
- 2nd: Natallia Tsylinskaya (Blr)
- 3rd: Shuang Guo (Chi)
There's more track action over the weekend too.
Saturday 10th December
- 08:45 - 13.10: Qualifying Session
- 13:15 - 16:15: Afternoon Session and Finals
- Men - Team Pursuit Final
- Women - 500m Time Trial Final
- Women - Individual Pursuit Final
- Men - Sprint Final
- Men - Points Race Final (30km)
Sunday 11th December
- 10:00 - 11:40: Qualifying Session
- 11:45 - 15:30: Afternoon Session and Finals
- Women - Scratch Race Final (10km)
- Men - Madison Final (40km)
- Women - Keirin Final
- Men - Team Sprint Final
- Men - JKA Japanese Keirin Final
Tickets can be purchased online at www.worldtrackcycling.com or by calling 01372 464 666
