World Track championships

[bnewt07]

Perhaps I missed it but have not seen any threads about the UCI World Championships held in Manchester this week.

Great to see the UK team continuing to perform across a variety of disciplines, men and women. Nine Golds, 2 silvers. Roll on Beijing!

The performances have actually switched a few people on to cycling and the BBC gave it several hours of live prime-time this weekend which has to be good. Some of the action was exceptional. What a shame the olympics have reduced the number of evenets, especially for women. I suspect the London 2012 organisers will try to reinstate some-after all what else would we win!

Is it fair to say that track racing has a very low profile in the US?

[11.4]

Check www.fixedgearfever.com. That's where all the trackies hang out.

And let's not omit that Jennie Reed won gold in the keirin, after bronze in the sprint the day before. She was already qualified to go to Beijing. Now she's going with world championship stripes on her jersey. One of the nicest people in racing, and she's really had her day on the podium. Couldn't have happened to anyone more deserving. Outstanding ride.

And Chris Hoy! He and Theo Bos paired off in the semis. The first heat was what sprinting is all about -- completely tactical until Chris looked one way, Theo jumped in the other direction, and Theo's acceleration is so fast you'd think they just turned off the slow-motion. Chris didn't even try to contest it. With a lap to go, Theo looked around, saw he was already a half lap ahead, and just coasted to the win. Then Chris had to come back in two successive heats to win the gold.

Every event was superb -- world records set over and over, and everyone in top form -- but one has to give Jennie Reed credit for the best win. She was in a final against a whole battery of riders who were current or past world championships and she just made the right tactical move and then powered clear. A great ride.

[bnewt07]

Jennie Reid really looked to battle for her medal but I agree Hoy was one of the standouts. He just oozes confidence in the Kerin, something like 25 straight wins is hard to believe really. Nicest man you could imagine but scary on that bike!

[Nick H.]

But Jennie only won because Queen Victoria made a couple of mistakes, so for me that race was a display of failure, not success.

My vote for 'most impressive victory' was Brad and Cav in the Madison. They'd had no practice with each other before and according to Brad they "just muddled through". Everyone was marking them but their getaway was so glorious that it almost made me want to watch stage races again.

[jpw]

Vicky Pendleton made a technical mistake brought on by fatigue from having already competed to win two gold medals earlier in the week. Losing to Reed yesterday will make her even hungrier. In Beijing she will be ready. She is a 'winner'.

[bnewt07]

But Jennie only won because Queen Victoria made a couple of mistakes, so for me that race was a display of failure, not success.

My vote for 'most impressive victory' was Brad and Cav in the Madison. They'd had no practice with each other before and according to Brad they "just muddled through". Everyone was marking them but their getaway was so glorious that it almost made me want to watch stage races again.


I started watching the Madison out of the corner of my eye and then was absolutely enthralled. Great race, and that intense effort to regain the lap and then still score in the final sprint was very impressive.

I was just pleased that the event got more coverage than before. Success helps that interest of course but it is a spiral-more people attracted to the sport too in the UK can only be good. The track success is spilling onto the roads too, a UK team in the TdF is a possibility, we have several competitive pro's now and the opening stages in London last year were a huge hit. Good times for bike racing in Britain.

[fiamme red]

Thread drift: has anyone bought videos from http://www.protrackcycling.com/? What's the quality like? Is there sufficient commentary so that one doesn't get completely confused watching the madison?

[11.4]

Thread drift: has anyone bought videos from http://www.protrackcycling.com/? What's the quality like? Is there sufficient commentary so that one doesn't get completely confused watching the madison?

They've been pretty decent -- DVDs of Eurosport coverage. You only get standard TV resolution, but the commentary is actually superb. Up until the last few DVDs they were broken into tracks for each round. On the last couple they were just one long track run together, which made it hard to navigate.

The guy who does it is sometimes a bit difficult to communicate with -- he gets some criticism in various forums -- but I've not had a problem personally.