by Anna Magrath | Nov 18, 2012
Men’s Sprint
GOLD – Germany (BOETTICHER)
SILVER – Germany (FOERSTEMANN)
BRONZE – Rusvelo (DMITRIEV)
An all-Germany final saw Friday night’s Team Sprint gold medallists Robert Foerstemann and Stefan Boetticher go head to head for gold in the Men’s Sprint final. It was Boetticher who got the better of his countryman, winning the first match and taking the second with a stunning sprint in the final 200m that saw him take gold in emphatic style and bring the UCI Track Cycling World Cup to a fitting end.
The bronze medal match was contested by Spain’s Juan Gascon Peralta and Denis Dmitriev of the Rusvelo team who needed only two matches to beat his rival and claim the bronze.
Great Britain’s representation came in the form of Olympic Team Sprint gold medallist Philip Hindes who finished 12th in the competition overall.
Olympic champion Jason Kenny did not feature in the Sprint event after a heavy fall in the Keirin final on Saturday night where his World Cup was cut short with a broken collarbone.
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Women’s Keirin
GOLD – Germany (VOGEL)
SILVER – Petroholding Leningrad (GNIDENKO)
BRONZE – Hong Kong (LEE)
Germany’s in form Kristina Vogel picked up her second gold medal of the week, adding Keirin gold to the Sprint she won on Saturday night. Silver went to Ekaterina Gnidenko, racing for the Petroholding Leningrad team, and bronze went to Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee.
Great Britain’s Becky James qualified for the final and was unlucky not to finish on the podium after leading out after the exit of the derny.
Great Britain’s Jess Varnish missed out on the final after finishing 6th in her second round heat. After racing in the Team Sprint, Sprint and 500m TT fatigue was evident in Varnish and she finished 9th overall.
Women’s Omnium
GOLD – Great Britain (TROTT)
SILVER – Australia (ANKUDINOFF)
BRONZE – Russia (BALABOLINA)
Olympic and World Omnium champion Laura Trott won the Women’s Omnium title in dramatic style, beating rival Ashlee Ankudinoff from Australia into silver in the final heat of the sixth event, the 500m Time Trial. Going into the final event Ankudinoff was two points ahead of Trott with Trott needing to beat her rival by two places to secure gold. An aggressive ride in which Trott gave everything she had saw her deliver once again, finishing with the second fastest time behind Russian Tamara Balabolina which was enough to secure gold and bring the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome crowd to their feet. Victory in the 500m Time Trial meant Balabolina did enough to take home bronze for Russia.
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Women’s Omnium
Omnium I – Flying Lap
Rank 1 Australian (ANKUDINOFF) – 14.340
Rank 2 Fullgass.org (OLABERRIA DORRONSORO) – 14.364
Rank 3 Poland (PAWLOWSKA) – 14.524
Omnium II – Points Race 20km
Rank 1 Bulguria (SHARAKOVA)
Rank 2 Lithuania (TREBAITE)
Rank 3 Mexico (ARREOLA NAVARRO)
Omnium III – Elimination Race
Rank 1 Great Britain (TROTT)
Rank 2 Poland (PAWLOWSKA)
Rank 3 Russia (BALABOLINA)
Omnium IV – Individual Pursuit 3Km
Rank 1 Great Britain (TROTT)
Rank 2 Australia (ANKUDINOFF)
Rank 3 Poland (PAWLOWSKA)
Omnium V – Scratch Race 10Km
Rank 1 Russia (BALABOLINA)
Rank 2 Lithuania (TREBAITE)
Rank 3 Mexico (ARREOLA NAVARRO)
Omnium VI – 500m Time Trial
Rank 1 Russia (BALABOLINA)
Rank 2 Great Britain (TROTT)
Rank 3 Poland (PAWLOWSKA)
by Anna Magrath | Nov 18, 2012
Jessica Varnish of Great Britain leads Olivia Montauban of France in the Women’s Sprint 1/8 Finals. – ©Alex Broadway/SWPIX.COM
Men’s Keirin
GOLD – Germany (BOETTICHER)
SILVER – Team Jayco-AIS (LEWIS)
BRONZE – Japan (SAKAMOTO)
When the gold medal race eventually got underway – after a false start by Japan’s rider Takashi Sakamoto, a faulty gun and a few issues with the derny – it was Australia’s Peter Lewis at the front and Kenny trailing in third. Once the derny left the track it was Kenny and German rider Stefan Boetticher who went head-to-head on the final lap. However, there was a dramatic twist as Kenny turned into Boetticher and crashed out taking France’s rider Quentin Lafargue with him. In the end Boetticher held his nerve and took the gold.
Earlier on there was more bad luck for British riders as Welshman Lewis Oliva crashed with Australia’s Andrew Taylor in the second round.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- BOETTICHER (12 points)
- PUERTA (12 points)
- LAFARGUE (12 points)
===
Women’s Sprint
GOLD – Germany (VOGEL)
SILVER – Great Britain (VARNISH)
BRONZE – Great Britain (JAMES)
The semi-final saw last night’s Team Sprint gold medallist Great Britain teammates Rebecca James and Jessica Varnish go head-to-head to earn a place in the gold medal race. After the first two legs of the semi-final the riders it was 1-1, with it all coming down to the decider. In a strong display by Varnish, she earned her place in the gold medal race.
Vogel took the shine out of Varnish in the opening race of the gold medal Women’s Sprint final with a solid performance. The second race followed the same vein as Varnish attempted to go out early with the sprint only for Vogel to come back and take the win and secure gold.
James took the first of three races with a solid performance but Lee came back in the second to force a deciding duel.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- LEE (19 points)
- VARNISH (18 points)
- JAMES (18 points)
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Men’s Individual Pursuit
GOLD – Denmark (HANSEN) – 4:20.875
SILVER – Ireland (IRVINE) – 4:22.745
BRONZE – Spain (MUNTANER JUANEDA) – 4:28.429
Martyn Irvine and Lasse Norman Hansen went head-to-head for the gold. Hansen made the better start and grew a good lead by the first time check. The gap was not clawed back and the Dane took the win with ease – adding another gold medal to the Team Pursuit medal he achieved yesterday.
The bronze medal race started with Spanish rider David Muntaner Juaneda taking an early advantage and building a 2 second lead at the midway point. The gap was too much for the New Zealand rider Dylan Kennett to pull back and Muntaner Juaneda took the bronze.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- HANSEN (12 points)
- IRVINE (10 points)
- MUNTANER JUANEDA (8 points)
===
Men’s Omnium
GOLD – Germany (LISS)
SILVER – Australia (O’SHEA)
BRONZE – Spain (ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR)
Omnium IV – 4km Individual Pursuit
Rank 1 Great Britain (DIBBEN) – 4:26.982
Rank 2 Belgium (DE KETELE) – 4:28.908
Rank 3 Australia (O’SHEA) – 4:29.699
Omnium V – Scratch Race 15km
Rank 1 Denmark (KRIGBAUM)
Rank 2 Kazakstan (LYALKO)
Rank 3 Japan (HASHIMOTO)
Omnium VI – 1km Time Trail
Rank 1 Germany (LISS) – 1:02.768
Rank 2 Australia (O’SHEA) – 1:03.475
Rank 3 Great Britain (DIBBEN) – 1:03.955
Great Britain’s Jonathan Dibben came out on top in the individual pursuit, placing him in sixth in the overall Omnium standings. The race saw Belgium’s Kenny De Ketele and Australia’s Glenn O’Shea finish second and third respectively.
The scratch race started with the home crowd hoping for a win by fancied Jonathan Dibben. He faced stiff competition in world champion Australia rider Glenn O’Shea who was involved in a number of break-away groups in the early stages. In the end it was Mathias Wichmann Krigbaum, Alexey Lyalko and Eiya Hashimoto who succeeded in lapping the main group and went on to claim the top 3 positions.
Heading into the last event of the Omnium, the table was tight at the top with only 2 points separating the top three. Dibben put in a solid time and ended up third behind rank 1 Lucas Liss and rank 2 O’Shea.
After some fantastic racing over the six events, Germany’s Lucas Liss was too strong for the competition, taking the gold medal with Australia’s World Champion O’Shea taking silver and Spain’s Unai Elorriaga Zubiaur with the last place on the podium in bronze.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- LISS (12 points)
- SIMION (12 points)
- O’SHEA (10 points)
Laura Trott of Great Britain competes in the Women’s Omnium Points Race 20Km – ©Alex Broadway/SWPIX.COM
Women’s Omnium
Omnium I – Flying Lap
Rank 1 Australian (ANKUDINOFF) – 14.340
Rank 2 Fullgass.org (OLABERRIA DORRONSORO) – 14.364
Rank 3 Poland (PAWLOWSKA) – 14.524
Omnium II – Points Race 20km
Rank 1 Bulguria (SHARAKOVA)
Rank 2 Lithuania (TREBAITE)
Rank 3 Mexico (ARREOLA NAVARRO)
Omnium III – Elimination Race
Rank 1 Great Britain (TROTT)
Rank 2 Poland (PAWLOWSKA)
Rank 3 Russia (BALABOLINA)
In the first of the women’s Omnium Flying Lap the current world champion came an unexpected fourth with the Australian, Ashlee Ankudinoff, taking the win with a solid performance.
Trott entered the Points Race as World and Olympic champion but faced tough competition from a strong field. In the end a couple 20 point lapping from the likes of Tatsiana Sharakova and Ausrine Trebaite were too much for Trott and she finished ninth.
The elimination race saw a rider go down hard and have to be taken off on a stretcher. After the restart Trott rode a great race with an enthralling sprint over the last lap to take the win.
The Omnium is set up well for the next stages tomorrow.
===
UK BBC Broadcast Times
by Anna Magrath | Nov 17, 2012
©Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
Men’s Team Pursuit
GOLD – Denmark (FOLSACH, HANSEN, NIELSEN, QUAADE) – 4:01.289
SILVER – Germany (BEYER, BOMMEL, REINHARDT, THIELE) – OVL
BRONZE – Belgium (DE KETELE, DE BUYST, DE PAUW, VAN HOECKE) – 4:06.951
Denmark took GOLD in the Men’s Team Pursuit Final, beating Germany convincingly to win the first gold medal of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Glasgow. Germany lost two riders which gave Denmark the chance to catch their opponents finishing with a time of 4:01.289.
Spain and Belgium faced each other in the bronze medal shoot out on the track, both evenly matched. Spain was the first team to make a mistake as Spain went down to three riders, giving Belgium an immediate advantage. Spain never recovered from their error, resulting in Belgium taking the bronze medal with a time of 4.06.951.
The big shock of the day came in the qualifying when the relatively inexperienced Great Britain team crashed out earlier in the day, with Owain Doull the only rider to stay on his bike as Sam Harrison, Joe Kelly and World Champion Andrew Tennant crashed onto the boards.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- Belgium (15 points)
- Switzerland (14 points)
- Denmark (12 points)
===
Women’s Team Sprint
GOLD – Great Britain (VARNISH, JAMES) – 33.428
SILVER – Spain (CALVO BARBERO, CASAS ROIGE) – 34.102
BRONZE – France (CLAIR, MONTAUBAN) – 34.197
Jess VARNISH and Becky JAMES won Great Britain’s first gold medal of the competition, riding a great race to take gold against Spain in a time of 33.428. James replaced the retired Victoria PENDLETON and she and Varnish brought the packed Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome crowd to their feet with a fine ride. This was the second World Cup win for the pair who took gold in the first round in Cali last month and are already proving themselves on the road to Rio 2016.
The bronze medal race saw France and Russia go head-to-head. The race was tipped to be close but France edged out Russia for the medal with a fine performance on track.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- Great Britain (24 points)
- Japan (13 points)
- Spain (10 points)
===
Women’s Team Pursuit
GOLD – Great Britain (TROTT, BARKER, KING) – 3:21.043
SILVER – Australia (ANKUDINOFF, CURE, HOSKINS) – 3:22.026
BRONZE – Belarus (SHARAKOVA, DYLKO, PAPKO) – 3:25.737
The two big rivals went head to head in the Women’s team pursuit. The race was a closely fought in the early stages but Great Britain started to pull away at the later stages, gaining a narrow lead over their rivals. The Great Britain trio featured two of the Olympic gold medal winning squad in Laura Trott and Dani King alongside British Cycling Olympic Academy Programme rider 18 year old Elinor Barker.
In the bronze medal race Lithuania always had a lot of work to do if they hoped to beat Belarus. The pattern was set early with Belarus starting well and leaving too big a gap to the Lithuanians to close. Belarus took the bronze medal and lead the standings after two rounds of the series.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- Belarus (15 points)
- Great Britain (12 points)
- Italy (12 points)
===
Men’s Team Sprint
GOLD – Germany (ENDERS, FOERSTEMANN, BOETTICHER) – 43.887
SILVER – Great Britain (HINDES, KENNY, CLANCY) – 44.175
BRONZE – France (PALMA, SIREAU, LAFARGUE) – 44.803
Germany won Gold in the Men’s Team Sprint, beating Great Britain in the final. Germany’s performance was just too good for the Olympic Champions who took silver in Ed Clancy’s first race since making the transition from endurance to sprint to fill the place of Sir Chris Hoy’s in the new-look team.
Bronze medal went to France who beat Poland.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- Germany (24 points)
- Japan (12 points)
- Russia (12 points)
===
Women’s 500m TT
GOLD – Belarus (PANARINA) – 34.121
SILVER – Germany (VOGEL) – 34.318
BRONZE – Spain (CALVO BARBERO) – 34.451
The Women’s 500m Time Trial race saw Olga PANARINA take gold with Germany’s Kristina VOGEL taking silver and Spain’s Tania CALVO BARBERO taking bronze. Fresh from winning gold in the Team Sprint Great Britain’s Jess Varnish took to the track again, this time finishing 6th.
World Cup standings after 2 round:
- Belarus (12 points)
- Germany (10 points)
- Spain (8 points)
===
Men’s Scratch Race
GOLD – Switzerland (MARGUET, Tristan)
SILVER – Ireland (IRVINE, Martyn)
BRONZE – Netherlands (EEFTING, Roy)
The race saw a lot of movement in the initial stages with a number of break-out groups through the race. With 23 laps to go, the group came back together with nobody able to get a decent amount of daylight between themselves and the main pack. No one seemed able to make that move that would separate themselves from the pack. Great Britain’s Simon YATES was involved in a number of attempted break away packs. With 15 laps to go another breakout group tried to break away from the peloton but in the end it came down to a sprint which was won by Tristan MARGUET from Switzerland. Martyn IRVINE from Ireland was hugely committed through the entire race and was rewarded with silver. In the bronze medal place was Roy Eefting of the Netherlands.
===
Men’s Omnium
Omnium I – Flying Lap
Rank 1 Germany (LISS) – 13.252
Rank 2 Switzerland (BEER) – 13.349
Rank 3 Australia (O’SHEA) – 13.354
Omnium II – Points Race 30km
Rank 1 Australia (O’SHEA)
Rank 2 France (BRISSE)
Rank 3 Netherlands (VELDT)
Omnium III – Elimination Race
Rank 1 Spain (ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR)
Rank 2 Australia (O’SHEA)
Rank 3 Czech Republic (RYBIN)
Overall standings after 3 events
Rank 1 Spain (ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR)
Rank 2 Germany (LISS)
Rank 3 Switzerland (BEER)
The crowd were treated to some great action during the first three of six Omnium events on Day 1 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Glasgow.
Germany’s Lucas Liss drew first blood, posting the fastest time (13.252) in the Flying Lap. Next up was the 30km Points Race which was won by current World Champion Glenn O’Shea of Australia. O’Shea narrowly missed out on a second win as he was outsprinted by Spain’s Unai ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR on the final lap of the Elimination Race.
ELORRIAGA ZUBIAUR, who now leads the Omnium at the midway stage. The German, LISS, is in second overall with BEER in third. Great Britain’s Jon Dibben lies in 11thoverall.
BBC Broadcast Times
- Saturday 17 November:
- Sunday 18 November
by Heather Bamforth | Oct 19, 2012
We got our hands on a selection of Cliff Bars to review for you and Sim and Heather took on the taste and energy test.
Heather’s Opinion:
I had my first taste of CLIF Bars whilst taking part in the Deloitte Ride Across Britain last year – the chocolate chip version kept me going from John O’Groats all the way to Glasgow, so when I was asked to review CLIF bars for CyclingShorts, I thought why not?
So, a large selection of CLIF Bars in all different flavours made their way through my door – There was the chocolate chip version which I had tried before, then Crunchy Peanut Butter flavour, followed by Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, then Chocolate Almond Fudge, with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bringing up the rear.
I must say that some of them sounded slightly exotic and I wasn’t convinced that I would like them, but I tried them all anyway (it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it!)…
So, what did I think? Well, some of the flavours and the texture of the bars are better than others. For example, whilst the Oatmeal Raisin Walnut version may appeal to some due to the lower calorific content than the others, I found that unfortunately it was a bit disappointing – too dry to have on its own, especially trying to eat it going uphill. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the most exotic-sounding one (in my humble opinion), the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut was in actual fact the best of the bunch, mainly due to the addition of white chocolate pieces compensating for the dry nature of the bars in general. However, the Crunchy Peanut Butter flavour came a close second, as CLIF have worked hard to make that bar more chewy and therefore slightly more moist.
The Chocolate Almond Fudge was a bit disappointing too – I thought that it would be the CLIF Bar version of Bakewell Tart but it just seemed difficult to eat, as did the Chocolate Chip version. The bars really fill a hole and contain on average 245 kcals per bar and provide plenty of slow release energy from the seeds and grains used.
CLIF pride themselves on using wholesome and nutritious ingredients and having no trans fats, hydrogenated fats or high fructose corn syrup. It should be noted though that under UK regulations CLIF Bar cannot state that the bars are organic or contain no transfats.
The wrappers are foil and although this keeps the contents fresh, it can hurt your teeth trying to rip it open (I can’t ride in a group of people non-handed so I have to use my teeth – but don’t tell my dentist!) however if you want weight for your £1, these are definitely substantial bars – you can feel the heft when you pick one up!
So, for marks out of 100, overall I would probably give the CLIF bar range 70% (good start, but some improvements needed) although I would give the White Chocolate Macadamia version 85%.
Sim’s Opinion:
I confess to being rather skeptical about using Cliff Bars as I have had mixed experiences using energy or nutrition bars when riding, to the point that I have reverted to using trusty old jam and bread on most rides. My experience is that some are gooey and sticky, others sickly and worse still some that encouraged the production of some rather unpleasant gases, which was not good in the bunkhouse when all ten of us had been using the same product with the same effect! So needless to say I was a tad apprehensive when I was among a group of friends taking part in the Manchester 100 who would be testing a range of Cliff Bars. Fortunately we would not all be staying in the same room at the end of the day!
On the day we had four different flavours, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Almond fudge, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Oatmeal Raisin Walnut, to test and we split them across the group of Team Parrotti riders. My son plumped for the Chocolate Chip and I tried the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.
Out on the road we were particularly impressed with the ease of opening the packaging and the fact that the bar stayed intact allowing us to nibble on the bar and keep popping it back into our back pockets without making a mess. Which is great if you want to use them for a little pick up as you are riding.
The consistency of the bars is moist but not too gooey and this works really well when riding allowing you to take small bites without the bar falling apart. However you do need a sweet tooth as the bars are very very sweet but then that is not surprising considering nearly a third of the bar is sugar (between 21g – 23g for a 68g bar). This was the general experience of all Team Parrotti riders who tested the bars during our day out at the Manchester 100. We all agreed that the bars are worth carrying as a back up source of energy but we all felt that they are a little too sweet to use as a regular nutrition.
Of the flavours tested the clear favourite was Chocolate Chip with White Chocolate Macadamia Nut a close second. The least favourite was Chocolate Almond fudge which was incredible sweet and rather sickly.
The bottom line has to be ‘would we use Cliff Bars again?’ and the answer is a resounding yes. They provide a good energy boost that be easily nibbled on when needed and they are really easy to digest with no adverse effects (if you know what I mean!).
To learn more about CLIF Bars and their extensive range of products visit their website: www.clifbar.co.uk
Cycling Shorts overall rating for the Cliff Bar Range: 
by Anna Magrath | Feb 2, 2012
At the end of the Final Revolution of the series I caught up with Sir Chris Hoy for a brief chat.
I asked Chris how he was feeling and how the day had gone for him, “I’m feeling really great thanks, I’ve just had a very big block of training so it’s hard to know how well you’ll put the power down on the track, but on the whole I think tonight was a good test, a good warm up for the World Cup in London. I do have a few things to iron out after my error in the sprint against Jason [Kenny] but my time in the qualification sprint [10.099] was ok considering the temperature and track conditions in the afternoon.
There was a moment when Matt [Crampton] had a problem with his bike ahead of me in the team sprint, I nearly had to pull up the track to avoid a collision, but Matt managed to hold his line. It’s great to be back in front of a home crowd too and I really love the atmosphere here at Manchester and the Revolutions, it’s a great night of entertainment, the crowd really give you energy. My last track events were the World Cups and many British fans didn’t get to see them so it’s good to be back, it’s great to have my family here too.
How are preparations going for the Olympics?
I’m looking forward to the World Cup in London it will be a good benchmark and then it’s just one more event [the World Championships in Australia] where I aim to do my three events to the best of my ability to earn my place or places on the team for the Olympics, not long now! I can’t wait to get on with it, I would obviously like to defend all three titles at the Olympic Games but with the new quota system the positions will be hard fought, I will do everything in my power to gain as many spots as I can, the other guys on the team are in great form and just as determined.”
I also asked Chris his thoughts on how the new velodromes in London and Glasgow would fit into the current set up and if they would have a detrimental effect on the existing Manchester and Newport tracks…
“I don’t thinks so, I think they will benefit cycling. Anything that makes track cycling more accessible to the general public is good, whether it’s riding or spectating. It’s become a high profile sport with all the new funding and media support the sport’s getting these days. Appetite is growing. It will encourage healthy competition between the regions, another tier of competition. It means each velodrome can concentrate on encouraging and nurturing local cycling talent and there certainly is demand for that. We need to continue to find the stars of the future and stay ahead of the international competition.”
by Jody Cundy MBE | Oct 20, 2011
Jody on the track at Manchester
Well with all the excitement of 1 year to go celebrations I thought it was a good idea to update you on my progress and let you know what’s been happening over the last few months.
At the end of my last blog I was off to Glasgow to join over 600 riders, all raising money for Paralympics GB, on day 4 of the Deloitte Ride Across Britain. Myself and other members of the GB Para- cycling team (Darren Kenny, David Stone, Terry Byrne, Jon-Allan Butterworth, Helen Scott) rode alongside them for 4 days down to Bath race course. The ride didn’t get off to a great start, for myself Darren and David. We had been competing in Spain at the Para-cycling World Cup, but unfortunately for us our bikes didn’t make it with us to Glasgow! It was only by pit stop 1 that we managed to get hold of our bikes, and we joined the other riders on route to Carlisle Race Course. On each stage we started the ride as the last group off, and throughout the day we’d over take and talk to as many riders as possible. Some would join our train even if it was only for a few minutes just to say they’d rode with us, and others were just happy for the encouragement we gave them as they made their way to the finish line. The 4 days we rode were some of the hardest I’ve had in the saddle, not because of the terrain, or the length of the stage (even though they were the biggest rides I’ve done), it was the shocking weather we had to put up with. And in Chorley on the way to Haydock Park race course, this was possibly the worst I’ve ever seen, let alone ride in I really did wonder what I was doing! It was a shame we couldn’t do the whole RAB, but hopefully our presence through the midsection of the ride helped the moral of the riders as they headed to Land’s End.
Jody - Image ©Copyright British Cycling
National Time Trial Championships
At the start of August I headed down to Worcestershire to take part in round 5 of the Rudy Project Time Trial Series, which also doubled as the Para-Cycling National Championships. The course was changed at the last minute due to road works, into a challenging 13 miles of undulating roads. I rode as fast as possible around the course, trying to maintain as much momentum on the steep rises scattered throughout and managed to finish in 32:52. This was good enough for 4th place, definitely not a course suited to me, but perfect preparation for the World Championship TT the following month.
World Championships – Roskilde Denmark Worlds Day 2 C4 30.6km TT
The road worlds were something I’d never planned to do at the start of the year, but with a few top ten finishes at the world cup, and other events it kind of made sense and I found myself on the plane to Roskilde in Denmark. The first few days of training around the course were wet, and that didn’t give myself or team mates much confidence of a dry race, especially as all the app’s on our iPad’s laptops and phones had it down to be wet. But come the first day of racing the weather had picked up, and managed to stay dry for the duration of the competition. The time trial was first up for me, and I managed to get plenty of useful tips from my team mates who had tackled the course on day one of the championships, however I knew it was going to be tough, as it was a longer TT than I’d previously ridden and also with its undulating nature it was going to involve an element of pacing so I would not overcook it on the first lap. With my coach in the following car shouting words of encouragement on the megaphone I was underway, trying to maintain speed without going too deep into the red, as I came through lap 1 of 2 I was feeling pretty strong, but that feeling soon disappeared as my minute man over took me into turn 1 of the course. I had an idea this was going to happen as he had won the Segovia round of the world cup, so I just wanted to keep him in sight so I could post a reasonable time. However Roberto was quickly pulling away from me, and just as I needed to inject a bit more effort to maintain my speed the first laps efforts began to take their toll. It wasn’t until I was about 3⁄4 of the way through the ride did I get a second wind, but by now the damage was done and it was a matter of surviving to the end. I crossed the line in 45.13, a reasonable time, but only good enough for 12th place, just outside the top ten goal I thought I could do if everything went my way. After the TT I had an easy day, before an early starting road race, at 8am on a Sunday morning. I can’t even remember in my swimming days a start that unreasonably early!
Worlds Day 4 – C4 & C5 road race 75.6km
The goal for the road race was to try to stay in the bunch to the end and then sprint for the finish and see what that would get me. The bunch was the biggest I’d race in all year, 49 riders from the C4 and C5 class. The previous day there had been many crashes in the C1-3 race, and the first lap seemed pretty cautious, with everyone taking care through all the technical sections. By lap 2 the pace had increased and the race was on. However at the end of 4 laps I was still in the race as each break failed to get away. Even though lap 4 was easily the toughest all I had to do was just hold on for one more lap before being able to get involved in a bunch sprint for the finish.
With 2 km’s to go and much to my surprise, I was still there and was starting to think that it might actually be my day. Into the last kilometre the pace picked up again, as I found Jiri Jezek’s wheel and thought it was going to be a good place to sit. But just as I got settled in, there was a touch of wheels from behind, which forced me wide. I managed to stay on Jiri’s wheel, when almost instantly there was another touch of wheels. It was all gettng a bit too close for me and I had images of myself crashing in the last roundabout before the final 300m sprint. I had been watching the C1-3 race the previous day which had a crash in exactly the same place and didn’t want this to happen to me. I know the possibility of crashing shouldn’t affect me, but with the road being such a minor focus for me, I took the decision to back out of the sprint. As I moved to the side, I watched the finish in front of me, and sure enough there was a crash at the roundabout. I will never know if I would have been caught up in it had I continued to sprint, but I kind of regret not going for it, especially as I know I have more speed than any of the riders in the bunch. Unfortunately (or fortunately perhaps) in that sprint I developed a conscience and that voice in my head said it wasn’t worth the risk. I know it was for a podium place at a world championship, but I have to look at the bigger picture and that is London. Therefore, starting my track season injured probably wouldn’t be the best idea. I’m a trackie who loves riding my bike as fast as possible around a velodrome and I want to show the world just how fast I can go in less than a year, but in order to do that I need to stay injury free.
The road season for me has been a good experience, and although I didn’t score anymore qualification points for London at the World Championships, I’ve come away with an increased endurance base that I can now work into my track season.
Jody & Girlfriend Christina At The Beach
Other News
Outside of training and racing, I have been quite busy off the bike. I can’t tell you everything yet, as a lot of things haven’t been announced yet, however one project I can tell you about was collaboration between Channel 4 and Sainsbury’s. They have made a series of ten ninety second films, each one focussing on a different Paralympic athlete. My film was to be the last in the series and involved 2 days of filming. The first day was to capture me in my training environment, so they came to the velodrome with some very fancy HD cameras, lighting and a bunch of ideas. It was pretty enjoyable riding with cameras mounted to my bike, and to the motorbike I was chasing, it was all good fun, and the little clips I could see it was looking pretty cool too. With all the filming at the velodrome done, the second day of filming was to capture me outside of my training environment relaxing with friends and family. First venue was Hunstanton beach. Originally they’d planned on filming me fly my power kite, and being dragged through the sand, however it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to happen as there wasn’t a breath of wind in the air! In the end they decided to film me walking hand in hand on the sand with Christina, my girlfriend, and then skimming some stones on the calm sea. After getting the shots they wanted it was off to my uncles, where we had planned a bit of a get together with members of my family. We played a little golf, and then a game of cricket before having something to eat, all in front of the cameras. After all the filming they had one piece left to do, and that was to film my mum. She was going to be the voiceover for the film, and as such I wasn’t allowed to hear what she said until I saw the finished film.
I’m pleased with the final film, and think the voice over from my mum is almost poetic. If you didn’t catch it you can see the film on my website by clicking here.
Next stop for me is a trip to the London velodrome, where I shall be riding with the Para-cycling squad for 3 sessions to learn the ins and outs of the new track before next year’s Paralympics.
Catch you all next month.
Jody
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