Womens National Omnium Series - Race 2 Herne Hill

Womens National Omnium Series - Race 2 - Herne Hill - run by VC De Londres

On a cloudless 28 plus degree day in London, 25 women turned up at the Herne Hill Velodrome to contest the second round of the National Womens Omnium Series and what a day of temperatures it turned out to be. On and off the track.

Janet Birkmyre and Jo Tindley in action

Event 1: 500m TT

The first event of each Omnium is always the standing start 500 metre TT. An event that tests your “Go till you blow” - all out effort.

With a steady head wind down the back straight causing some pain, the riders headed off in number order. With no seeding at this stage, it was Agisko Viners Rohan Battison who went first and set the bench mark time of 43.42 secs. This was to be bettered by Janet Birkmyre 10 riders later (Planet X - Cycling Plus) she set a blistering time of 38.86. The very next rider was Siobhan Mullan (Raleigh ERV) who was to set the closest time to Birkmyre's when she recorded a great time of 40.41 with the next fastest time being VCL's Emma Trott with a 40.66.

Event 2: Scratch Race

The Scratch race turned out to be a tactical affair, with initial attacks from Sutton CC's Louise Mahe quelled by the experienced riders keeping things close together. Some attacking riding by Welwyn CC's Amy Gallagher and VCL's Alice Monger-Godfrey kept the pace reasonably high, but in the last lap the speedsters really hit the gas. It was VCL's Jo Tindley, who started the move and Birkmyre over-hauled her with 50 metres to go. Birkmyre comfortably taking the win from Tindley with Mullan finishing 3rdth.

Event 3: Sprint

Riders were put in heats based on their 500 TT times and seedings almost went to plan with the only exception being Jo Tindley who was beaten in her semi final heat by Cardiff CC's Rachel Ball and Amy Gallagher.

In the finals, it was Gallagher, Ball, Mullan and Birkmyre who set off at a slow pace, watching each other closely. Welwyn's Gallagher showed her hand early and went for it down the back straight. Janet Birkmyre was quick to respond with Mullan on her wheel. They both closed on Gallagher with Birkmyre again showing some super top speed to win from Gallagher and Mullan with Ball finishing 4th.

At this point the top 3 in the omnium so far were :

• Janet Birkmyre - 3 points
• Siobhan Mullan - 9 points
• Jo Tindley - 12 points

Event 4: Pursuit

The fourth event, the pursuit, proved to be a disappointment for some and a disaster for others. Sutton CC's Louise Mahe was in the second heat and with the marshall standing in front of her, waiting for his signal from the timing coordinator to give her the nod to get ready, the timer fired his gun to start the heat. Mahe had to avoid the marshall standing in front of her and get up to speed. She probably lost 2 or 3 seconds and gave a battling effort to record the 5th fastest time.

Meanwhile GS Strada's Laura Bissell was having her own troubles when starting her heat. Somehow the bars got loose and she pulled up after only half a lap with her bars un-rideable. She was given a re-ride but although she posted the 7th or 8th fastest time, she was feeling the effects of a hard few weeks racing and training (Laura won the silver medal last weekend at the Derny National Champs, behind Vicki Pendleton). Both she and Louise Mahe called it a day after the pursuit. Sometimes it is just not meant to be.

This didn't detract from a great ride from VCL's Emma Trott, who rocketed round in 3 mins 06 secs for the 5 laps. Second fastest was her team mate Jo Tindley, who started slowly, not wanting to blow up in the excessive heat, but finished like a train and recorded a time of 3m 12s. It was to be a VCL tri-fecta with Corrine Hall taking 3rd in a time of 3mins 13 secs. A personal best result in the pursuit, in any Omnium for Planet X's Janet Birkmyre of 4th place had her consolidate her lead, whilst Raleigh ERV's Siobhan Mullan finished 6th.

This meant that heading into the final event, the Points Race, which comprised of sprints at lap 16, 12, 8, 4 and on the last lap, Birkmyre held a strong lead with 7 points from Tindley and Mullan on 14 apiece.

Points

Event 5: Points Race

With Birkmyre taking the first sprint, behind her it was first blood to Mullan as she placed 2nd with Tindley a close 3rd. In the next sprint it was Tindley who showed her fast finish to hold off team mates Trott and Monger-Godfrey and crucially keeping Mullan and Birkmyre out of the points.

In the 3rd sprint at 8 laps to go it was Evans RT's Gabriella Coates who had escaped off the front and took maximum points, with Birkmyre 2nd and Tindley 3rd. Mullan failing to score there again and unfortunately when GS Avanti's Joanne McRae and VCLs' Monger-Godfrey opened up half a gap lead to take first and second in the next sprint, followed by Birkmyre, it was going to come down to the last sprint to decide the top 3 placings for this race. With Birkmyre on 9 points, Tindley on 7 and Mullan on 3 it was a tense last few laps as the pace gathered momentum, but in a very close tussle, a little less than a foot separated 1st and 2nd on the line. This was between Jo Tindley and Janet Birkmyre, with Birkmyre taking the win on the line and the overall points race victory too. VCL's Jo Tindley took second place, with team mate Alice Monger-Godfrey 3rd and GS Avanti's Joanne McRae 4th and then Siobhan Mullan finishing 5th.

In the final reckoning, it was Planet X's Janet Birkmyre who took a convincing win in this omnium and she takes maximum points in the overall series standings after two rounds. VCL's Jo Tindley jumps up into second place in the series, having secured 2nd place on the day, with Raleigh ERV's Siobhan Mullan taking over 3rd spot in the series and the days omnium. VCL's Emma Trott, who took 3rd in the first round at Welwyn finished 6th at Herne Hill sits in 4th place in the series standings.

OVERALL RESULT - VCL Omnium

1. Janet Birkmire 8
2. Jo Tindley 16
3. Siobhan Mullan 20
4. A Monger-Godfrey 34
5. Amy Gallagher 36
6. E Trott 36
7. R Ball 38
8. G Coates 40
9. S Terry 44
10. C Hall 45

Overall Series Standings after 2 Events

1. Janet Birkmyre - 50 points
2. Jo Tindley - 34 points
3. Siobhan Mullan - 29 points
4. Emma Trott - 27 points
5. Alice Monger-Godfrey - 21 points
6. Amy Gallagher - 18 points