Bos tops in sprint at Beijing World Cup
Men's 200-meter sprintDutchman Theo Bos easily beat Frenchman Mickael Bourgain 2-0 to take gold in the men’s sprint at the second stop of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics that concluded Sunday. In both finals heats Bos overtook Bourgain on the final straightaway, winning each time by less than half a wheel length. After the second heat the reigning world sprint champion pulled off his helmet and sunglasses, then raised his arms in triumph, acknowledging the crowd at Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome. In the bronze medal round German Stefan Nimke defeated France’s Kevin Sireau
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Ukraine takes women's team pursuit
By Staff and wire reports
Men’s 200-meter sprint
Dutchman Theo Bos easily beat Frenchman Mickael Bourgain 2-0 to take gold in the men’s sprint at the second stop of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics that concluded Sunday.
In both finals heats Bos overtook Bourgain on the final straightaway, winning each time by less than half a wheel length.
After the second heat the reigning world sprint champion pulled off his helmet and sunglasses, then raised his arms in triumph, acknowledging the crowd at Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome.
In the bronze medal round German Stefan Nimke defeated France’s Kevin Sireau 2-0.
The sprint tournament started with 62 riders posting flying 200-meter qualifying times. Nimke’s 10.101 was the top time. Bos qualified third.
In the quarterfinals, Nimke was the only rider who did not sweep his opponent.
Great Britain’s Chris Hoy won the race-off for fifth place after losing to Bourgain in the quarterfinals.
Reigning Olympic champion Ryan Bayley of Australia lost to Great Britain’s Ross Edgar in the 1/8 finals.
Bourgain won the sprint event at the World Cup opener in Sydney, Australia, last weekend, and leads the overall series standings 22-17 over Sireau. There are two more World Cups this season, Los Angeles and Copenhagen.
Bos did not compete in the sprint in the recent World Cup in Sydney.
Madison
France’s Jerome Neuville and Christophe Riblon won the Madison on the final night of round No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Beijing.
In a closely fought race that was not decided until the finish, France scored one point and lapped the field once, besting T-Mobile’s British duo of Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins, who also lapped the field once but scored no points.
France earned its single point on the first of eight sprints that were contested every 20 laps during the 160-lap, 40-kilometer race.
Cavendish and Wiggins won silver ahead of Ukraine’s Lyubomyr Polatayko and Volodymyry Rybin by virtue of their better placing at the finish. Ukraine also lapped the field once, but had no points.
The Team Focus duo of Roger Kluge and Olaf Pollack’s 16 points were the most of any team, but the Germans failed on several attempts to gain a lap.
Spain’s Joan Llaneras Rossello and Carlos Torrent Tarres were also aggressive, tallying 14 points. But several efforts to gain a lap, including late in the race came up short.
Ukraine was the first team to take a lap, catching back onto the field with 125 laps to go. France achieved the feat on the 105th lap. T-Mobile gained its lap with 41 to go.
The Dutch duo of Peter Schep and Danny Stam made several attack bids, but could not break away from the 26-team field. Schep partnered with Jens Mouris a week early to win the World Cup opener in Sydney, but Beijing was less kind, as Schep crashed hard during the second of two qualifying heats.Women’s Team Pursuit
Women’s team pursuit
The top-qualifying Ukrainian trio of Svetlana Galuk, Lesya Kalitovska and Lyubov Shulika beat Russia’s Eugeniya Romanyuta, Olga Slyusareva and Anastasiay Chulkova in the final of the women’s 3000-meter team pursuit at round No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing on Sunday.
There was a problem with the timing system and official results were not immediately available, but Ukraine led throughout the 12-lap race and enjoyed a one second advantage at the finish.
This was just the second time in World Cup history that women’s team pursuit was contested. The first was last week at the series opener in Sydney, Australia.
In the bronze medal round, where the timing system did operate properly, Cuba’s Yudelmis Dominguez Masague, Yoanka Gonzalez Perez and Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso came back from an early deficit to beat the Italian trio of Silvia Castoldi, Annalisa Cucinotta and Tatiana Guderzo. Cuba’s bronze medal round time was 3:35.732. Italy finished in 3:37.355.
Following a qualifying round where the four competing teams raced 12 laps against the clock to determine who would ride for which medal, top seeded Ukraine squared off against World Cup round No. 1 winner Russia.
The Russians could not repeat the feat, falling behind early and never recovering.
Russia leads the overall World Cup points standings 22-20 over Ukraine.
Women’s Keirin
Sunday’s women’s Keirin final was marred by a pair of last-lap crashes that took down four of six riders.
Dutchwoman Willy Kanis was ahead of both crashes and won gold at round No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics at Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome. Germany’s Christin Muche also stayed upright, taking silver.
Ukraine’s Natallia Tsylinskaya was one the four riders who crashed, but was not hurt badly, quickly remounted her bike and rolled across the finish line third.
The first crash happened when Russian Swetlana Grankowskaja brushed against Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton on the back straightaway. Grankowskaja lost her balance and tumbled off the track.
Grankowskaja was not seriously injured, and after taking a minute to regain her composure, she ran the final 100 meters of the race alongside her coach who was pushing her bike.
Tsylinskaya, Pendleton and Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaite all went down in the second crash, which occurred just seconds after the first, right before the race’s final turn. After a brief medical examination, reigning world Keirin champion Pendleton walked off the track.
But Krupeckaite had to be carried off on a backboard and was taken to the hospital. A race official said she had an arm injury, but further details were not immediately available.
This was Kanis’ second gold medal at the Beijing World Cup. On Friday she teamed with Yvonne Hijgenaar to win team sprint gold.
Tsylinskaya’s bronze was her third medal in three days. She also won gold in women’s sprint and bronze in the women’s 500-meter time trial.
UCI Track World Cup Classics
Beijing, China. Dec. 9
Men
200-meter sprint
1. Theo Bos (Ned)
2. Mickaël Bourgain (F)
3. Stefan Nimke (G)
Madison
1. France (Jérôme Neuville/Christophe Riblon)
2. T-Mobile (Mark Cavendish/Bradley Wiggins, GB)
3. Ukraine (Lyubomyr Polatyako/Volodymyr Rybin)
Women
Keirin
1. Willy Kanis (Ned)
2. Christin Muche (G)
3. Natalia Tsylinskaya (Blr)
Team pursuit
1. Ukraine (Svetlana Galuk, Lesya Kalitovska, Lyubov Shulika)
2. Russia
3. Cuba