Session 5 - December 12 Afternoon

The German Madison team
Photo ©: Dana Ross

By Eddie Monnier

The final day of the Los Angeles World Cup event provided some spectacular racing and wrapped up the USA' first taste of World Cup talent on its newest and only indoor velodrome.

The women's keirin was packed with talent, including Natalia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) who had already taken out the Sprint and 500 meter gold medal for this World Cup (and Olympic bronze medalist in the 500 meter); double medalist Elisa Frisoni (silver, 500 meter and bronze, Sprints) of Italy; current world champion Clara Sanchez (France); current junior world champion Shuang Guo (China); Olympic double medalist Anna Meares (Australia, gold, 500 meter and bronze, sprint).

The start of the Women's Keirin final race.
Photo ©: Dana Ross

Each of the heats was exciting but it was Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) who ultimately took out the title in a thrilling finale in a time of 12.167 (59.176 km/h). US rider Jeannie Reed - who won both her earlier heats with strong displays of power - tried to come over the top from dead last to the front with 1.5 laps to go. She was taken up the banking in turn one and couldn't quite get over Tsylinskaya who had led since the start. Pendleton powered to the line to take the win over Anna Meares (Australia) and leaving Tyslinskaya with the bronze.

The Netherlands posted a 45.258 (59.658 km/h) to qualify fastest and earn the right to face off against Olympic champions and current World Cup leader Germany for the gold / silver round. France and Japan would face each other in the bronze round. While the World Championships are admittedly a ways off, Australia's sprinters continued to struggle and qualified only fifth fastest. The Netherlands clawed its way back in the second half of its match against the Germans to take the win by 0.254 over Germany. France had a bit of an easier time with Japan who seemed to struggle to keep it together.

With 27 women entered for the scratch race, two qualifying heats were held with the top 10 in each advancing to the final. With so many qualifying, there was little incentive to drive the pace and both heats more or less waited for the field sprint. Rebecca Quinn (USA) won the first heat and Alexis Rhodes (Australia) took out the slightly faster second heat. The energy saved in the heats would be unleashed in the final which was completed at an average speed that was 5 km/hr faster. Joanne Kiesanowski (New Zealand) and Elana Chalykh (Russia) were active throughout the race. The attacks were numerous but nobody got more than a half lap advantage over the field. The group was compact with five to go when Alexis Rhodes (Australia) hit the front and set tempo until inside of two to go when Mandy Poitras (Canada) came stomping over the top with teammate Gina Grain in tow. The leadout stalled as Yulia Arustamova (Russia) surged on the outside and gunned it all the way to the line for a win by several meters. Eleonora Soldo (Italy) grabbed the Silver while Emma Davies took Bronze to round out the podium.

Great Britain crashed in the Madison.
Photo ©: Dana Ross

Fifteen two-man teams lined up for the Madison, always a crowd favorite, though a bit confusing for many spectators. The US team took out the first sprint, which stirred the vocal crowd, even though many were still hoarse from cheering Colby Pearce during the prior evening's men's points race. Belarus attacked and gained about half a lap before Russia really cranked up the chase to complete the catch before the second points sprint which was taken out by the Czechs to move into first while the Germans and the US were tied at just two points behind. The field split under the pressure of the second sprint. Germany and Russia, sensing the opportunity, went on the attack. The Czech team caught on to the break and the trio eventually gained a lap on the US, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Chile which trailed the rest of the field. An important tactical difference between a regular Points Race and a Madison is in the Madison, laps take precedence over points (whereas laps are converted to points in a Points Race).

Germany continued its move and powered off the front alone to add a lap advantage over the front of the field as well. That's not surprising given the duo was driven by talented pursuit strongman Robert Bartko. The Germans would eventually take another lap over the back group.

Greg Henderson and Peter Latham of New Zealand tried valiantly to take back a lap, but the most they could do was take out the 40-to-go sprint as they were caught at about 25 laps to go. Germany had the race well under control with at least a lap lead over everyone as well as a four point advantage over the next best Czech team. But there was a fierce battle among the Czechs, Russia, Great Britain, New Zealand and Ukraine, who were all on the same lap and separated by six or fewer points from each other.

Robert Bartko and Leif Lampater
Photo ©: Dana Ross

Unfortunately with about 9 laps to go both Great Britain riders hit the deck coming out of turn four. While clearly banged up, neither was badly hurt. Re-mounting their bikes to considerable crowd applause, the Brits re-entered the race. The Czechs took out the remaining sprint to end the day with 16 points (but down a lap on Germany which had 15 points) and claim the silver medal. The Russians edged New Zealand and Argentina by just two points for the bronze (New Zealand took fourth because of its better finish on the final sprint).

Bartko and his teammate Leif Lampater put on quite a display today. And if there were tired legs from the three days of racing, it didn't slow the race at all. The 40km event took just 44:15 (54.24 km/h) to complete. But I'm sure there are some tired legs now.

And so we close our coverage of this World Cup event. The event certainly provided an opportunity for organizers and athletes alike to test the facility and logistics. While many of the timed events were slower than some expected, Theo Bos' ripping fast kilometer of 1:01.768 shows it's not all attributable to the track. The fact is, for many of the riders, they've only begun their serious preparation following their post-Olympic Games break. Athletes at this level cannot rush back to peak fitness if they want to be at their best in March, when it matters the most. And we'll have a good idea of how fast the track is when everyone comes back in peak form for the world championships in March. But ultimately, it's the racers who make the races exciting, not the track surface. Don't miss it!