Janet Birkmyre Photo: Jeff Baird
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The third round of the 2007 National Women's Omnium Series was held at Welwyn on a typically overcast day, with the occasional shower causing short delays. 21st - 22nd July 2007.
TT
But with superb efficiency, the team at Welwyn's Gosling Sports Park got the event underway on time and starting with the 500m TT an event which is always a good indicator of who is going well on the day.
A blistering time of 38.50 secs in blustery conditions from current national omnium champ, Janet Birkmyre (Planet X-SheCycles.com) proved the quickest by over a second from a tightly packed group of three riders, who were separated by only 0.06 of a second; Siobhan Mullen (Team Chance) was 2nd with 39.60, Laura Trott (VCL) 3rd with 39.65 and Helen Scott (Halesowen) fourth with 39.66.
Scratch race
The Scratch race was the second event, is always a cagey one. The occasional comment from spectators that the women don't really attack this race seem to forget that the women have three more event to race in short succession, so cannot be blamed for trying to save their legs, especially with the pursuit next.
But attacks did come during the race, from Helen Clayton (CC Giro), Emma Patterson (Agisko Viner) and on the 3rd to last lap a dig from omnium debut rider, and ex England Rugby International, Nicki Drinkwater (Planet X -SheCycles.com) which caused the bunch to string out, but in the last lap it all came back together. On the back straight it was Helen Scott who accelerated first, with Siobhan Mullen on her wheel and Janet Birkmyre on the inside line, underneath. Birkmyre looked to be boxed in but managed to get herself out of trouble and she powered her way over the top of Scott to win by half a bike length, with Mullen taking third and top UK Under 16's Laura Trott taking fourth.
The top 5 positions in the Omnium after 2 rounds had Janet Birkmyre with 2 points, Siobhan Mullen - 5, Helen Scott - 6, Laura Trott - 7 and Helen Clayton and Gabi Coates tied with 12 points.
Pursuit
The Pursuit, as mentioned earlier, comes too quick for some and is one of the hardest parts of the day especially with the blustery headwind on the home straight.
With four heats of four riders each, setting off from four stations around the track, it was difficult to see who was fastest, but all found the head wind on the home straight very hard, while they were in danger of spinning out their gear with the tailwind. Surprisingly, the net effect was that most of the top riders actually went faster than they had at the omnium held here in May.
In fact the fastest time came from Janet Birkmyre. We know she's been working on her endurance this year and this really showed as her time of 2 mins 31.50 secs was 7 seconds faster than her time in May.
In second place was Emma Trott (VCL), who has been focussing more on road racing this year, but she showed that she can still produce a good pursuit with very little track time under her belt this season with 2min 32.13s. Siobhan Mullen claimed third with 2min 35.91.
Sprint
The fourth event was the Sprint competition and seeding for 4 up heats is based the Omnium positions at this point.
The top 4 riders; Birkmyre, Mullen, Scott and Laura Trott, all sailed easily through their heats and were set for the semi-finals until threatening rain clouds, which had the commissaires re-thinking the schedule. Instead of 2up sprint semi's and finals they changed it to a 4 up final, so that in the event of rain, we had a result.
The final started with all riders watching each other, keeping their height on the track. As they entered the back straight the pace picked up but the first move was made by Helen Scott and she quickly opened up a gap of 4 bike lengths. Mullen and Birkmyre gave chase but Scott fought all the way to the line and held on to win by half wheel from Birkmyre, with Mullen third and Laura Trott fourth.
Points race
Sadly, as the women were warming up for their final event, the Points Race, the heavens opened and gave no sign of abating, so the meeting was officially closed.
With four of the five events completed, the win was awarded to Janet Birkmyre who continues her great form in this series, winning this round with a total of 5 points. Six points back from Birkmyre was Siobhan Mullen, who was second with 11 points and Helen Scott third (and first Junior) with 13. Laura Trott finished fourth with 15 points.
Thanks again to Twickenham CC for sponsoring this event and to Peter Waghorn's team for doing a great job (as always) with the organisation.
The final round of the Omnium Series is due to be held at the Halesowen track on 11th August as part of the prestigious Dudley Grand Prix meeting, so get your entries in fast. This is a great weekend of racing with the Women's Omnium run during an open event on Saturday and then a National Sprinters league, including international riders, on the Sunday.
Overall Results for Omnium Series
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Pootle 
