TRACK CYCLING

Webster sprints into quarters, Gate enthused for Rio

By Cycling New Zealand

Commonwealth Games champion Sam Webster is keen to get on the podium when the sprint competition is decided on tomorrow’s final day of the UCI Track World Championships near Paris.

The 23 year old has won through to the quarterfinals after a day of super-fast times for sprinters on at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. He was forced through the repechage, ousting teammate Eddie Dawkins in the process, and now takes on big Russian Denis Dmitriev in the quarterfinals tomorrow.

Earlier Dawkins was third fastest in the 200m qualifying in 9.681s, bettering his own national record, with Webster 17th fastest at 9.848s, which was a personal best at sea level.

The 2013 world champion Aaron Gate summoned a remarkable points race to conclude the six-event omnium that saw him climb from a distant 12th place to fifth and chasing a medal in the closing laps.

The result has encouraged Gate who believes he can stand on the top of the podium in next year’s Rio Olympics.

The early focus today was on the sprinters who took full advantage of the sticky conditions and wider turns in the velodrome to produce some stunning times.

Former world champions Stefan Boetticher (GER) clocked 9.641s and Gregory Bauge (FRA) 9.641s to lead the way with Dawkins just 7/1000ths behind the Frenchman.

The Kiwis won through the first round of sprints but both were beaten in the second round - Webster to Australian rival Matthew Glaetzer and Dawkins to Venezuela’s Hersony Canelo.

They drew the same repechage where Webster executed perfectly to win the one spot in the quarterfinals.

“We have to take it one race at a time. The big thing to work on is to get into a winning position against the Russian. If we are going to be successful in sprint we have to start racing finals,” said national sprint coach Anthony Peden.

“I think Sam has the measure on the Russian. He is riding very smartly. He is moving fast and I think he will move too quickly around the track for Dmitriev – that’s the hope anyway.”

Gate produced a stunning and courageous points race to finish fifth in the six-event omnium.
Lying 12th coming into the final points race, Gate was outstanding, away in two breaks and eventually gaining three laps on the field to win the points race. Such was his haul, finishing in the points in eight of the 16 sprints, that he catapulted himself into medal reckoning in the closing laps. He finished with 173 points, only eight points from the podium, with his 81-point haul in the points race was a massive 28 clear of the second best.

Fighting back from a broken collar bone, his form in the timed races was well below his best, but he is encouraged by the result nonetheless.

“It’s a case of working on the stuff that I knew about before I came here. It’s disappointing not to be on the top of the podium here but I knew I did not have the form in those timed events,” Gate said.

“I know exactly what I have to do now. To come away in the points race, which is now the crucial event in the omnium, with nearly double the points of the second placed rider, is something I am happy with.

“I really believe I can be on the top step in Rio. Everything I do in the next 18 months will be focussed on achieving that.”

Previously each of the omnium disciplines scored a standard number of points, but now the total score in the points race is added to the overall to determine the winner.

He clocked 1:06.297 in the 1000m time trial and 13.359s in the flying lap, both well outside his best, before his onslaught in the points race.

Earlier Waikato’s Rushlee Buchanan produced a brave effort in the 10km scratch race, pushing clear with a powerful burst 10 laps from home. Working with one other rider, Buchanan put half a lap on the field but the big guns closed down the break three laps from the finish.

Powerful Dutch rider Kirsten Wild controlled the final lap to win the sprint from Australia’s Amy Cure with Buchanan finishing in the front group in 12th.

Waikato’s Racquel Sheath lies in ninth after the first day of the women’s omnium competition. She was 12th in the scratch race and the 3000m individual pursuit in 3:41.582, which was a new best time. Sheath impressed in the elimination, finishing fourth to boost her tally.

Tomorrow’s final day will feature Sheath in the final three events in the omnium, Webster in the sprint quarterfinals, Stephanie McKenzie in the keirin with Pieter Bulling and Regan Gough in the 50km Madison.

Image caption:  Aaron Gate in action in the omnium at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Credit: Guy Swarbrick/Cycling New Zealand.







Results, day 4:

Men 200m sprint qualifying: Stefan Boetticher (GER) 9:641, 1; Gregory Bauge (FRA) 9.676, 2; Eddie Dawkins (NZL) 9.681, 3 (NZ Record). Also: Sam Webster (NZL) 9.848, 17.

Round 1: Dawkins bt Eion Mullen (GBR), Webster be Jacob Schmid (AUS). Round 2: Matthew Glaetzer bt Webster, Hersony Canelon (VEN) bt Dawkins. Repecage 1: Francois Pervis (FRA) 1 (qualifies); Michael D’Almeida (FRA) 2, Boetticher 3. Repecage 2: Webster 1 (qualifies), Dawkins 2, Peter Lewis (AUS) 3.

Quarterfinal draw:  Webster vs Denis Dmitriev (RUS), Gauge vs Pervis, Canelon vs Quentin LaFargue (FRA), Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) vs Glaetzer.

Men Omnium, day 2:
1000m time trial: Lucas Liss (GER) 1:01.508, 1; Glenn O’Shea (AUS0 1:02.300, 2; Tim Veldt (NED) 1:02.318, 3. Also: Aaron Gate (NZL) 1:06.297, 20. Flying Lap: Elia Viviani (ITA) 12.785, 1; Veldt 12.863, 2; Gael Suter (SUI) 12.922, 3. Also: Gate 13.359, 15. Points race: Gate 81 points, 1; Ramon Tsishkou (BLR) 53, 2; Jonathan Dibben (GBR) 45, 3.

Final placings: Fernando Gaviria (COL) 205, 1; O’Shea 190, 2; Viviani 181, 3. Also: Gate 173, 5.

Women Omnium, day 1:
Scratch race: Ausrine Trebaite (LTU) 1, Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) 2, Caroline Ryan (IRE) 2=3. Also: Racquel Sheath (NZL) 12. 3000m Individual Pursuit: Laura Trott (GBR) 3:32.798, 1; Annette Edmondson (AUS) 1:32.831, 2; Kirsten Wild (NED) 3:34.858, 3. Also: Sheath 3:41.582, 12. Elimination:

Points after three events:
Men’s 4000m individual pursuit qualifying: Jack Bobridge (AUS) 4:16.219, 1; Stefan Kueng (SUI) 4:17.183, 2; Alexander Serov (RUS) 4:19.284, 3; Julien Moric (FRA) 4:19.684, 4. Also: Dylan kennett (NZL) 4:25.388, 10.
Gold: Kueng 4:18.915, 1; Bobridge 4:19.184, 2. Bronze: Morice 4:21.419, 3; Serov 4:21.801, 4.
Women 10km Scratch Race: Kirsten Wild (NED) 1, Amy Cure (AUS) 2, Allison Beveridge (CAN) 3. Also: Rushlee Buchanan 12.

Details: http://www.cyclingnewzealand.co.nz/http://www.cyclingnewzealand.co.nz/ or www.uci.ch