Reed claims World Cup keirin title as Pearce wins points race in Sydney

By VeloNews Interactive

American Jennie Reed claimed the 200 World Cup keirin title on Saturday after finishing second to China’s Shuang Guo during the fourth and final round of the series in Sydney, Australia. Germany’s Katrin Meinke was third.

Meanwhile, another American, Colby Pearce, lapped the field not once, but twice to win the men’s 30km points race in the Dunc Gray Velodrome. Pearce ended rwith 50 points, 14 ahead of 2002 world champion Chris Newton of Great Britain (36 points plus1 lap). Two-time world champ Juan Llaneras Rosello, last year’s silver medalist in Stuttgart, was third (35 points plus1 lap), good enough to take the 2004 World Cup pursuit crown.

Britain’s Craig Maclean won the men’s sprint in consecutive races against Spain’s Jose Antonio Villanueva Trinidad. Fifth-placed Damian Zielinski of Poland claimed the overall series title.

The British team of Rob Hayles, Paul Manning, Russell Downing and Bryan Steele also won the men’s 4km team pursuit over the Netherlands in a time of 4:07.385, more than five seconds faster than the Dutch squad.

“It’s good to win today,” said Steele, who, along with his teammates, is focused on success at the upcoming world championships May 26-30 in Melbourne. “We have some last-minute preparations to do to improve our speed. We want to find another 1-2km/h for Melbourne.” The series championship went to New Zealand, whose team just missed the podium in a hard-fought match with third-placed Germany.

New Zealand’s Sarah Ulmer won the women’s 3km individual pursuit. Ulmer, the Commonwealth Games gold medalist in the same event, finished in 3 minutes, 31.157 seconds, just three-tenths of a second behind the world record set by the Netherlands’ Leontien Van Moorsel Zijlaard at the Sydney Olympics.

“I’m as surprised as you with the time,” said Ulmer. “I haven’t peaked yet, as I will for the world championships and Olympics, but I don’t think about medals, I just go as fast as I can.”

The win also gave her the overall pursuit World Cup crown for 2004 and a ticket to Athens for the Olympic Games.

“It will be wicked going to Athens,” she said. “It’s a weight off my shoulders to have earned a place. I’m where I want to be at the moment.”

Yvonne Hijgenaar of the Netherlands took the women’s 500-meter time trial and the series title in 35.100 seconds. Lori-Ann Muenzer of Canada was second in 35.562 and Clara Sanchez of France third in 35.708.

“It’s an incredible feeling and a great (24th birthday) present,” said Hijgenaar, who once used cycling as training for speed skating but now concentrates on wheels instead of blades. “I’ve made steady improvement this year and winning the World Cup means I’m going to Athens.”