Greetings to all listening to this annual Pre-Season Speech. In the last ProTrack season we saw a stunning round of racing in the United Cup, which ended up in a battle in the finale in the historic Roubaix velodrome in March, with Rankings winner, Fernando Puertez ending up on top of the podium with only 8 points leeway down to second-place, Sebastian Uhl. However, Puertez dominated the WCU World Championships over the water in Melbourne last April. Fernando took home 4 Rainbow Jerseys placing him very close to the world record of Jesper Janssen and Luuk Handers. The Nederland-Belgie Trofee was as closer as it ever is after a huge crash in the Scratch pulled Ben Henterhill of the Barclays team to the fore, and a stellar Pursuit showing, proved that he was could hold his position and win the NED-BE Trofee. The European Track Series was another close affair after Nakoti Kabalu was cruelly wiped out of the Keirin final in round 5 when Lars Nys locked handlebars with the Zimbabwean rider. However Spotify rider, Sebastian Uhl stayed up in the overall points and held off the others to win the traditionalist race, and to secure his spot in second in the ProTrack Rankings. Which brings me onto my next topic: the ProTrack Rankings. The WCU will change the points system slightly this year but it shall still be a fair competition as always. The 2014, 2013, 2012 & 2011 ProTrack Rankings winner Fernando Puertez will be back next year, after speculation buzzed round that the 3rd best track cyclist of all time was going to retire this season.
The new year will also see the edition of 1 extra round to the United Cup, which should make the competition even more exciting. The United Cup will also make it's first visit over to Canada in the brand new MATTAMY Cycling Centre in Ontario. To add to this grand expansion of the ProTrack Season, the Season will make it's first appearance in South Korea at the gargantuan Changwon Velodrome. This is all apart of the WCU's new project to get the ProTrack Season all across the world and to every corner of the world too! Anyway, the World Cycling Union (WCU) wishes you a merry Christmas and a happy new year in which we will see some more outstanding track action like never before. Here's to 2015, here's to the future of Track Cycling!
Edited by EwanWilson on 25-12-2014 19:02
Skellig317 wrote:
Cool story idea here!
Do you have screenshots of maillots in the piste??
Yeah I sorted out all the jerseys this morning,and it all works! We just need to come up with some stats together because we just have a ladder db at the moment.
I will post some screenshots in a bit
Welcome back to ProTrack magazine and yes, we're back for 2015, and as ever an issue will be published every other week, but in this issue we have no racing but a preview issue for the upcoming season, in which we have exclusive interviews from some of the World's best riders! In this issue we have met up with Jesper Janssen to talk about his last season in the sport, we also hooked up with Irishman Martin O'Connor to talk about life inside the best team in the world. On top of that we also grabbed an interview with some of the hottest new stars in the ProTrack Season, aswell as the usual features.
The most decorated ProTrack Season rider of all time, Jesper Janssen, 'The Great Dane' announced his retirement the next season, back at the 3rd United Cup meet in his home country of Copenhagen and also revealed that his last race would be at the UWC World Championships the following year in 2015. Now that time has come for him to ride his last races as a professional, but he says he wants to finish on a high in Berlin, he told us in an exclusive interview at the PCM.Daily team launch at the start of the month in Odense. He seemed pretty overwhelmed at the fact that this would be his last ever team presentation, and with 2 new team-mates, Ramunas Walsh and Stefan Heillden, around him, he doesn't know what he can do in this new year.
We quizzed Jesper about his career and is cycling highlights. He specifically highlighted his dominant performance in the ProTrack Season in 2005, and he reflects on the emotional Keirin final in Manchester at the 2005 United Cup finale, which secured him the ProTrack Rankings victory. He recalled himself crying and receiving a Dannebro (Danish flag), and flying it above my head whilst riding round the top of the Manchester Velodrome. Janssen also said that the 2010 Worlds were another highlight of career because it seemed like his last outstanding performance in a major race, after he won gold in 3 events, but the he said that the Keirin was another moving affair, just like in 2005. However he said that this was the last possible chance to take the ProTrack Rankings from leader Martin O'Connor. Jesper called it 'the most important race of his life', and he had to finish it off perfectly. That World Championships was the first of his with his current team PCM.Daily, and the 'Great Dane' seemed set on staying there for till the very end, as he did. Jesper said he had to jump ships from the Bergaus Team back in 2010 if he wanted to remain a successful cyclist after a disappointing streak of seasons which saw Janssen's decline as a pro, however he revitalised in 2010 as we said, which secured his place in history. We asked him about this, " Yes, this was a very special moment for me then, beating Luuk Handers, who I've known as the greatest, record in the Beijing round of the United Cup. Luuk was there at the race in the centre of the velodrome, as he was sent in because there might be a possibility that I'd break the ProTrack Ranking record, which put an even bigger burden on my shoulders. After I won the race Luuk, greeted me and congratulated me on my victory, and presented me with a special WCU trophy with a bronze cyclist on it, in which was awarded to the person who has won the most ProTrack Rankings. That will definitely go down as a fantastic moment in my career."
"For the next year I'd like to finish in the top 5 of the Rankings, and I'd finally like to break a world record, so I think I'm going to aim for the Hour Record around the 6th week of the season, which will be a big challenge for myself, but I think it will be a great thing to achieve in my final season. I'd also like to win one last track series, but I think that its out of my reach, however I think I'll try to give it my best try. And it would be spectacular to win in my last race in the Keirin final in Berlin at the Worlds, but I think I'm bring too ambitious again!"
Next season will also see the arrival of some fresh blood from the Junior Tours, in fact 4 new riders have joined the ProTrack Season this year to compete with the big guns in the prosperous new season. Stefan Heillden, Lars Baanders, Tomas Linkwurst and the extremely promising Maxime Kermagoret. This batch of new young riders seem to be some of the most promising in years as critics and pundits are speculating.
The most promising rider of all of them is Maxime Kermagoret, who has been said to be the next Luuk Handers, a strong all-rounder who really shines in the sprints and pursuits. He has been hot on the radars of the French Olympic Committee too, who have signed him up to the Olympic Program to nurture his skills and talents as a young rider. Kermagoret was quickly picked up by the Wiggle team aswell who saw his capabilities in the junior circuit and signed him into a 3-year contract. Wiggle weren't the only ones, PMU.fr, Activia, Barclays, Gazzetta & Spotify all tried to purchase the young Frenchman, proving that he was a ripe target for teams. In fact, the WCU had to lower the age limit of the ProTrack Season just to let Maxime into their Series! However it will be exciting to see how Kermagoret will do this season, as well as the other 3 newbies to the ProTrack Season.
"The number five fascinates me, and this year is no different as me and my Siemens Track Team will try to achieve the fifth, and equal Luuk Handers record of five in a row. Five would make Fernando the second best rider of all-time, but reaching five comes with its downfalls too. All the nights in hotel bedrooms crying in the shower because of a huge crash at the meet, or if I push myself to my absolute limits and end up in a state in the middle of the track, but five is all worth it."
We caught up with Martin O'Connor at the team presentation of his Siemens Track Team in Munich last week to talk about how close he's come before and what winning five will mean to him. He said that winning a fifth in a row would mean everything to him and would mean that he would be on the most successful team of all time. However, we asked Martin about his chances on his own: "Well, you know I might be able to go on my own if anything happens to Nakoti or Fernando I can always go for it myself in the overall races. However I will be targeting the European Track Series this season, and maybe have a little dig at some other races too." Like Jesper earlier, we asked him what his career highlights were: "I have to say winning the United Cup in 2010 and the European Track Series in 2009 were 2 huge achievements for me. The year I won the United Cup, I also lost the ProTrack Rankings as well which was very disappointing for me, as I really believed I could do it!" We also questioned him about his future too, "I think when we get to number five, I might contemplate switching teams because I have been at Siemens for a long time, and I don't really see that much of a future here, so I think I will want to move when we get to number five, as much of a whirl its been here!" Following onto this, we also asked him about the crowning of Martin O'Connor as the best lead-out man in the world, this was his response: "Well, I don't really know what to say back to them because there are a lot of other great riders like me, take for example the Brazilian, Thiago Guerda and the great Ben Handers, so I'm not sure I am, but I'll definitely take the complements though."
Name: Kevin Aasmae
Team: Skype Cycling
Country: Estonia
Hometown: Parnu
Age: 23yrs
Notable Palmares: 2011 Nederland-Belgie Trofee, 2011 Luxembourg Cup, Estonian Championships 2009-2013, 2014 WCU World Championships (Individual Pursuit & Madison)
After capturing the cycling world's notice in 2011 after winning becoming the youngest winner of the Luxembourg Cup (Aged 20) and then going onto win the Nederland-Belgie Trofee after destroying the Pursuit & TT disciplines. The Estonian went on to finish 4th in the ProTrack Rankings that year, the highest an Estonian rider has ever landed. Contrary to this, a devastating crash in the second round of the Luxembourg Cup left him with a broken collar bone and unable to race for the rest of the season, which damaged his reputation. After his former team, Wendy's Cycling Team folded during 2013, leaving Aasmae and his team-mate Papazian team-less until the Skype team picked him up after him and his team-mate won the Estonian and Armenian championships. Kevin then aimed at winning the Nederland-Belgie Trofee again, but it didn't work out after his chain came off in the Individual Pursuit in the opening round in Ghent, however Aasmae peaked at the end of the season and thrashed the field at the United Cup meet in Guadalajara and then in the following meet in Delhi. However Kevin's big time was to come at the WCU World Championships in Melbourne, where Kevin Aasmae ripped the Individual Pursuit to shreds when Aasmae edged the World Record in a stellar performance. The following day he and his team-mate Kevork Papazian worked together to become Madison World Champions after a close finale with the Samsung and Gazzetta teams. However Kevin Aasmae is predicted to do extremely well next season, as his pursuiting abilities are above average, and he could even break a world record this season!
ProTrack Rankings Odds Fernando Puertez6-1 Sebastian Uhl12-1 Jesper Janssen12-1 Roberto Di Nicheli16-1 Nakoti Kabalu18-1 Kevin Aasmae23-1 Maxime Kermagoret30-1 Takasaki Oswono45-1 Marc Dendfelstein65-1
That has been this issue of ProTrack Magazine, in the next issue, we will have a race review of the first week of the ProTrack Season, as well as an exclusive interview with ProTrack Ranking favourite, Roberto Di Nicheli, plus the usual stuff! OUT 9TH JANUARY 2015
The Velodrom d'Horta will play host to then first race of the season in Barcelona, for round 1 of the United Cup. This velodrome also held the track cycling at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and has a capacity of 3200 sseated and can also hold 11,000 standing around the top of the track. This velodrome is the only outdoor track in the ProTrack Season, and is the only one to host a football pitch inside it's centre, however it is boarded over for cycling events. This velodrome is also the home of reigning ProTrack Ranking champion, Fernando Puertez, so will have the extra motivation to push home to win races here in Barcelona in his push to win the ProTrack Rankings again (scoring system will be announced by the WCU tomorrow, Thursday).
Ones To Watch
Fernando Puertez(Sprint, Keirin, Scratch, Team Sprint)
This is home turf for the Spaniard, and it looks like he is on his way to succeeding here in Barcelona. Puertez trained on this velodrome as a youngster, but in his last meet in 2008, Fernando Puertez crashed infront of his home crowd, which drew a close to his season only in the 4th week of the season. This year Puertez will be attempting the 4 disciplines he is currently World Champion in.
Ramunas Walsh(Keirin, Individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit, Points Race, Scratch)
Ramunas is a bright talent in the sport, and is said to go onto great things. In his second season Walsh is looking to go for the overall ProTrack Rankings, as well as helping out, track cycling legend Jesper Janssen. The 23 year old looks good in the long distance races, and can also do a decent pursuit also, so look out for him in the points race and scratch races.
Roberto Di Nicheli(Sprint, Keirin, Scratch)
This 40 year old Italian has found his sprinting legs again, and after winning 2 silver medals at the last WCU World Championships in Melbourne, he looks strong. We think Di Nicheli can show what he is made of here in Barcelona this weekend, and maybe could be the big sprint opponent to the Catalonian, Puertez and disappoint the home crowd, and give a decent dig in his first race of the new season.
A new points scoring system will be introduced this year to the United Cup. The World Cycling Union have changed it so the winner of each discipline will receive the same points as eachother. The scoring will also the overall standings as well, because the scoring will be ONLY be made by combined points in all disciplines, not just one.
The meet will last over 2 days, and 4 sessions, as per the usual at a United Cup meet. Uniquely, there will be a final in every session, and there will be a minimum of 3 races per session. The tickets can span for over two of the sessions, which are in the morning and evening (floodlit). The morning session is from 12:00pm-3:00pm and the evening session is from 5:00pm-8:00pm. The schedule for the meet is as follows:
On behalf of the World Cycling Union, we hope you have a fantastic time here at the United Cup meet in Barcelona's Velodrom d'Horta!
This morning marked the first session of the 2015 ProTrack Season, and in the meet here in Barcelona. The United Cup seemed to go off to a great start here in the morning session where 4 races will be raced including a final at the end of the session
The sprint would be the opener for the United Cup meet here in the Vewlodrom d'Horta. The drawn was taken the day before, and the rivalries were close as always. Unlike normal, there was only 8 riders, compared to the normal 16. We ahve a brief report for each race below (winners in bold):
Standings
Maxime Kermagoret vs Dennis Van Vayern
Spoiler
This race seemed pretty close on paper, as it was. Kermagoret has a very fat punchy sprint, and unusally sprints out the saddle, and also keeps a low position on the bike. Dennis Van Vayern is the complete opposite, beng a big man, who can go for long and fast. However Kermagoret stuck to Van Vayern's wheel until the final 100m when Kermagoret pounced round and took the round in his first race in the ProTrack Season.
Sebastian Uhl vs Fernando Puertez
Spoiler
Two greats of the sport clashed with eachother in the first round. The more all-rounded Uhl, faced difficulty against the local boy. Puertez played a dirty race, nearly hitting Uhl in the final sprint, which caused some controversy. He edged into Uhl's handlebars, which caused Uhl to drop back and basically gift the race to the Spaniard.
Nakoti Kabalu vs Marc Dendfelstein
Spoiler
Kabalu came in as favourite into this clash with German, Dendfelstein, and he didn't fail. Kabalu used his quick sprinting style to leave his opponent on the home straight.
Roberto Di Nicheli vs Jesper Janssen
Spoiler
This was seen as being a classic showdown between two old cycling greats. Roberto Di Nicheli and Jesper Janssen played a slow game through the first laps, but a playful move from Di Nicheli caught the Great Dane off-guard, which came back to bite him in the final lap. The Italian champion looked safe until Janssen really closed the gap in the final 150m, which ended it up in a photo finish. After a long consultation from commasaires, decided that Di Nicheli just edged Janssen, which would move the Italian over to the semi-finals.
Semi-Final Races
Maxime Kermagoret vs Fernando Puertez Nakoti Kabalu vs Roberto Di Nicheli
The Team Pursuit works the same as the other Pursuit events but with 2 people. They only cover 2 kilometres instead of 4 as well. This event is relatively new to the United Cup, and some of the favourites include WCU World Champions Samsung, Skype and the Getronics. This event does not benefit teams with only one rider, therefore there is a limitation of numbers who can compete in the event.
The early pace setters were the Telenor squad of Gybev and Linkwurst, but the Spotify team came home in a much better time later on. The Barclays team suffered tradgedy after a fantastic run was devastated after Ben Henterhill was hit by a mechanical problem leaving him behind his team-mate Johnson. However, they still posted a very respectable time in the end ending up in 7th place. Later on in the race, the riders from the Wiggle Team were disqualified after an illegal bike weight with their new innotive bikes. However, in the race the Samsung team were on a World Record pace until the final lap when a little wobble lost them the World Reocord for the WCU World Champions. After the Korean team went Skype with a strong team of Aasmae and Papazian who were on a very similar pace but missed out 0.07 seconds in the end, but it wouldn't matter because both of them would face eachother in the final tonight.
Final Races
1st Place Race: Samsung vs Skype
3rd Place Race: Getronics vs PCM.Daily
5th Place Race: Spotify vs Siemens Track Team
The semi-finals were next on the agenda after the close encounters of the earlier qualifying rounds. This would also decide the all important ProTrack Ranking Points, and would determine which races the racers would go into for their final race this evening. As always the winner of each race is in bold!
Maxime Kermagoret vs Fernando Puertez
Spoiler
The Master against The Prodigy it seemed coming into this race, and after the controversy of the last race, I wasn't sure who was going to win. Kermagoret led the duo until he swung up the baking on the penultimate lap in the Velodrom d'Horta. In the final lap, Puertez was aggressive and held his line to the last push when Kermagoret tried to come round, but fell short.
Nakoti Kabalu vs Roberto Di Nicheli
Spoiler
This duo seemed the perfect match, however an extremely in-form Di Nicheli seemed the favourite. Di Nicheli stayed onto the wheel of Kabalu, but when the Zimbabwean rider tried to give it his best shot, Roberto Di Nicheli came round and distanced the 'Bullet', which would normally be a sign of a threat to a major sprinter like Puertez.
Final Races
1st Place Race-Fernando Puertez vs Roberto Di Nicheli
3rd Place Race-Maxime Kermagoret vs Nakoti Kabalu
The Elimination Race final would be the first of the meet, and the first of the whole ProTrack Season, this would also decide the first leader of the ProTrack Season, and coming into the race it was highly expected that Fernando Puertez, Sebastian Uhl, WCU World Champion Nakoti Kabalu or maybe the Great Dane himself, Jesper Janssen, could win the race and take an early advantage on the competition in the Rankings. However, underdogs like Ramunas Walsh, Kevin Aasmae and others seemed dangerous for the big guns.
The Opening Laps: "And the gun fires here at the United Cup at the Velodrom d'Horta in Barcelona, which in fact hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, a games where Hendrik Zandberg dominated. Hendrik Zandberg is now a coach for the Lotto.NL team who have brought their man Lars Baanders in the race, he might be able to do a little something. Anyway, welcome to the first final of the 2015 ProTrack Season, and for tuning into the WCU's coverage. But now at the head of the peloton, the realisation that there's going to be an elimination soon has hit, and it's coming up in 100m. The whole bunch frantically spread out and I think it's going to be the World Champion, who is in a bit of trouble here, but NO, he just edges Otto Van Stienberg out of the race. 16 more eliminations to go here at the United Cup in Barcelona." 3rd Elimination: "So, we've already had 2 Dutchmen who have been eliminated and it looks like there's another, Baanders in his first ProTrack Series race, but something's happened with the wheel it looks. Yes, OOOOW, that looks like the inner tube has literally snapped in half, that looks very bad, and it has taken him out of the race here. He turns off the track; what a disastrous way to start your professional cycling career. 4th Elimination: "Coming up to the elimination, there's a large surge of speed up the outside and its the Austrian champion and I think it's Kevork Papazian or it's Kevin Aasmae as they come out to the side. But OOOOW, there's a crash and those two riders are down but we need confirmation, and there is also a Wiggle rider down aswell, but the Skype rider is off trying to catch back onto the peloton, but its a tough ask for him. So here's the replay, and you can see that Filipov it is who pulls out slightly, and then the Austrian rider, Hundssen rides straight into the back of him, but behind Papazian just tries to pull away, but he stuck a leg out and stopped for a moment. That was bad, but now back in the race the elimination is just about to happen, but Papazian has put in a valliant effort to get back up to bunch, but he couldn't, but he road his heart out." 8th Elimination: "The bell rings and there's only 9 riders left, and the surge of riders to the front has hit, HERE COMES SIEMENS, Martin O'Connor is looking back and powers away from the bunch, but look back and you'll see Fernando Puertez at the back and struggling. By the looks of it I think that he is going to be eliminated! O'Connor rolls over, safe but I think we are going to see his team-mate being taken out the race and indeed he is. He shakes his head and throws his hand up at Martin O'Connor." 10th Elimination: "Well, the next elimination is coming up and it looks like Kevin Aasmae is sitting up, but he has been in a few close encounters before but now his luck has run out but it is a good result for Aasmae, he normally shines in the Pursuit races so he can take this with pride as he is eliminated now." 12th Elimination: "Well there are only 5 riders left, 2 from 2 teams and then Kermagoret on his own. Kabalu, O'Connor, Kermagoret, Walsh and Janssen are left now with 150m to go. PCM.Daily are coming up the side, but Walsh is losing his way at the front and opens it up for Janssen, and then on his wheel there is the 16 year-old Kermagoret, Kabalu is just staying up but it looks like he is struggling, and O'Connor goes back and it is going to be on the line between Walsh and O'Connor, and OOH its a photo. The commissaires are going to have to make a fast decision now and I think that it is going to be O'Connor who is eliminated but we'll soon find out...and there it is the decision is that Ramunas Walsh is eliminated, very surprising there but he still has his team-mate Jesper Janssen to bid for the victory but we now have 4 riders left." 14th Elimination: "Martin O'Connor just gave up last round but we now have 3 riders left: Kermagoret, Janssen and the WCU World Champion. I think that it will be between The Great Dane and The Bullet, but Kermagoret has played a perfect race tactically and he might even stay on to win this race. But they hear the bell for the 14th time and the sprint will soon be opened up, and now Janssen goes off and gives it a good shot with Kermagoret on his wheel, Kabalu is off the back, but off the final bend Kabalu launches but its all too late, and the WCU World Champion is knocked out of the Elimination Race final."
FINAL ELIMINATION: "Two riders left, the youngster against the legend, but they are making it like a track sprint, it is a game of cat and mouse now as they come off the final bend in which they'll hear the bell very soon, but still no-one is making a killer move. But now the bell goes for the last time and its Janssen who leads it out. They are very different in their styles of sprinting and their height and muscular build. Janssen has a gap but Kermagoret launches down the back straight, and he goes round Janssen without a sweat. He is distancing the Great Dane and now with 50m to go he knows he has won it. He throws his hands in the air as he crosses the line. Kermagoret takes the Elimination Race and he becomes the first ProTrack Rankings leader of 2015! Fabulous win for the sixteen year-old Frenchman on the Wiggle team. He still has his arms in the air but looks in a state of shock. Let's not take anything away from Jesper Janssen though, who comes and congratulates the Frenchman on his victory. Great racing here in the opening session of the United Cup in Barcelona. Anyway, thank you for watching the WCU coverage today. Be sure to check in later for the finals tonight."
FINAL ORDER
Spoiler
1. Maxime Kermagoret25pts
2. Jesper Janssen18pts
3. Nakoti Kabalu15pts
4. Martin O'Connor12pts
5. Ramunas Walsh10pts
6. Sebastian Uhl8pts
7. Kevin Aasmae6pts
8. Dennis Van Vayern4pts
9. Fernando Puertez2pts
10. Roberto Di Nicheli1pt
11. Kevork Papazian(Recovery After Crash)
12. Ivaylo Filipov(Crash)
13. Fritz Hundssen(Crash)
14. Lars Baanders(Mechanical Issue)
15. Jan Van Aaferlecht
16. Otto Van Stienberg
The stage was set at the Velodrom d'Horta for the first evening session of the United Cup meet. Tonight we would see 3 finals and a qualifying round, making it one of the most illustrious sessions to be at especially with the possibility of Puertez winning the Sprint as well.
The kickstarter of the first evening of practice here in the United Cup would be the qualifying phase for the Team Sprint. This event is a powerhouse, two-man lead-out train who go as quick as they possibly can for 2 laps and the team with the fastest tiume would progress to the Final Races, which would be held in the morning session on Sunday.
The start of the event was hectic with many false starts and disqualifications including the Allianz and Spotify teams after an illegal move by both teams. However, early goers, Barclays showed the field how it was done after setting the benchmark high with a sold 32.21 seconds, but it was the World Champions, Siemens who abbliterated that time, and very nearly broke their World Record set in 2012 with a stunning 29.98 seconds. After them ran the team of PCM.Daily who came across one second back on the Wold Champions but it was enough to secure second place.
Standings
1. Siemens (Puertez & Kabalu) 29.98
2. PCM.Daily (Walsh & Janssen) 31.02
3. Gazzetta Dello Sport (Gevenezzi & Di Nicheli) 31.24
The 200m TT is a simple time -trial over a 200m sector. The rider does 2 laps prior to the timed one, mainly so that they can pace and gain a flying start. This discipline would be the second final of the United Cup meet, and will be based purely on time. The World Record time is held by Luuk Handers, who set a 9.147 second time in 1973. The current World Champion is Takasaki Osowono of Japan but competition usually comes from the likes of Jesper Janssen, Sebastian Uhl and Martin O'Connor. They were all present here at the Velodrom d'Horta for the first final of the evening.
The early leaders changed frequently, and with over 20 riders racing the event. The predominant leader though was Jan Van Aaferlecht who came in with a respectable 9.410 seconds, which was enough to keep him on the hot seat until the real big guns came out to do their laps. We join you with Martin O'Connor's bid for glory.
Martin O'Connor's Lap: " The clock starts to tick as the Irishman O'Connor attempts to set the best time here at a floodlit Velodrom d'Horta in Barcelona. He looks strong now as he comes up to the split. He is up on the time of Van Aaferlecht at the split and he might well do it now coming off the back corner. Pushes all the way to the line and it is second place for O'Connor of the Siemens team. He was +0.073 on the line in the end, heartbreakingly close." Maxime Kermagoret's Lap: "The young Frenchman who won the Elimination Race earlier today starts his bid for a second haul of 25 points. He is on fire by the looks of it as he comes down the back straight. The top of the table looks tight at the moment just after Van Vayern bedged in on Van Aaferlecht's time, but Maxime is up on the split by a tenth of a second and there is no stopping this Frenchman, Kermagoret. He comes up to the line and he...BEATS the time set by Van Aaferlecht and becomes the leader of the 200m TT final." Sebastian Uhl's Lap: "The big Swede, Uhl is about to get away for his bid to win the Time Trial. The clock starts and he really gets going very fast. Uhl looks great, but I'm not sure about that beard, is that even aero-dynamic? Anyway he is coming up to the split and I think he is going to smash Kermagoret's time and the new leading time from Ramunas Walsh. And he does by -0.035, and he might break the Swedish record set by himself in 2009, as he pounces round the final bend. Sebastian Uhl sprints to the line and he TAKES it, a little fist pump from Uhl there as he pulls up to the top of the banking, it is -0.38 faster than Ramunas Walsh's time." Jesper Janssen's Lap: "Uhl is just circling the inside of the track now, just as Jesper Janssen who currently lies second in the ProTrack Rankings sets off on his flying lap. He has won more Rankings than anyone else and his PCM.Daily team look very strong especially with Ramunas Walsh in second now, he has secured some points but how many? We are about to find out as Janssen comes to the split. Its fast, very fast and he is slightly up on the time of Uhl, this is going to be extremely difficult for the WCU World Champion to beat this. Janssen might close in on the World Record here, now he comes up to the line! 9.162! QUICK, Janssen takes the first spot and I think that the time might be a PB for him, but I don't know for sure. Next up, Takasaki Osowono, the World Champion." Takasaki Osowono's Lap: "The Japanese rider looks intensely at the TT line, he has a tough job to beat the time of Janssen. He accelerates now as he crosses that line. The clock starts and he doesn't look like he normally does. He has some Kinotheraphy tape on his ankle after a spill in training last week but he is not quicker than Janssen as we see now. It was only enough to get the 4th spot, but Takasaki sprints towards the line, the 30 year-old hits the line in the 3rd place. He shakes his head , but it is jubilation inside the PCM.Daily camp, who have placed 2 of their riders in those point scoring positions. Jesper Janssen has scored well tonight and he might be able to continue that to the next race.
FINAL ORDER
Spoiler
1. Jesper Janssen 9.162NR25pts
2. Sebastian Uhl9.178NR17pts
3. Takasaki Osowono9.20710pts
4. Ramunas Walsh9.216NR5pts
5. Maxime Kermagoret9.268
6. Jan Van Aaferlecht9.410
7. Dennis Van Vayern9.452
8. Martin O'Connor9.483
9. Tom Johnson9.526
10. Kein Aasmae9.680
11. Kevork Papazian9.693
12. Francois Bougan9.703
13. Lars Baanders9.716
14. Tomascz Kalinsky9.786
15. Josh Wintle9.903
16. Lars Nys9.953
17. Alexandr Gybev10.026
18. Anders Berg10.067
19. Otto Van Stienberg10.097
20. Tomachev Gevenezzi10.133
21. Julien Befereq10.164
22. Stefan Heillden10.402
The Points Race is certainly one of the more difficult disciplines to follow. I will try to explain it very briefly though: so there are 160 laps (40km) and every 10 laps there is a sprint to determine points. Normally this event is very unpredictable and breaks up very easily. There normally aren't really any clear favourites but we can name a couple contenders: Martin O'Connor, Sebastian Uhl, Jan Van Aaferlecht and possibly Kevin Aasmae. Anyway we join you for the last 3 sprints. With Paul Forster in the lead of the points and the breakaway, accompanied with Josh Wintle.
Provisional Standings with 3 Sprints to go:
1. Paul Forster29pts
2. Josh Wintle28pts
3. Kevin Aasmae26pts
4. Jesper Janssen25pts
5. Sebastian Uhl20pts
Sprint #13: "With a lap to go to the sprint the chase is on by the peloton to try to catch this duo in front now. Paul Forster might be able to grab the victory now, but he still has to go on for another lap. The PCM.Daily team are really pacing them down in the peloton. Janssen can still win this but he also has to win all the sprints in the peloton as well. 100m to go to the sprint and it is Forster who takes the 5 points again and Wintle gets 3. Behind it is Janssen who digs deep, on his wheel is Gevenezzi who I think is supposed to be aiding his team-mate Di Nicheli. There are the points then: Forster, Wintle, Janssen, Gevenezzi. Sprint #14: It has all broken up, and some riders have not made the split like Uhl, who was in 5th! Janssen, Aasmae, Di Nicheli, O'Connor, Nys and Heillden have created a group and with this being the sprint lap they will want to push on! Forster and Wintle join the group after being caught but the sprint will be opened up by Di Nicheli, who will take it ahead of Janssen and Aasmae. The last point will go to Nys I think too. Last Sprint: He knows he can do it, Janssen is off the front, he is on his own and he looks like he might take the victory here! He has less than a lap to go and he has a large gap. The group know they are fighting for the remaining points. Janssen sits up and throws his hands in the air. He puts up 2 fingers marking the two races he has one back-to-back. Janssen takes the Points Race, but behind it is going to be Di Nicheli who wins that sprint ahead of Aasmae and Forster! Paul Forster has just missed out on a huge chance to win the race. Janssen wins by just one point over the American champion, no race like it!
FINAL ORDER
Spoiler
1. Jesper Janssen36pts25pts
2. Paul Forster35pts18pts
3. Josh Wintle33pts15pts
4. Kevin Aasmae28pts12pts
5. Roberto Di Nicheli24pts10pts
6. Sebastian Uhl20pts8pts
7. Martin O'Connor6pts
8. Tomachev Gevenezzi12pts4pts
9. Maxime Kermagoret8pts2pts
10. Lars Nys6pts1pt
The lat event of the night was the individual sprint. The qualifying rounds and semi-finals in the morning brought 4 riders here to the floodlit final at the United Cup in Barcelona. Coming into the final, the Spaniard and World Champion Fernando Puertez looked to have the upper hand but it would all come down to final sprint!
3rd Place Race:
Maxime Kermagoret vs Nakoti Kabalu
This race looks to be close, two very similar riders in sprinting styles, but the youngster might find it hard to keep up with the Bullet's tactical masterclass. The tense race was interrupted as Kabalu opened the sprint after a standstill coming into the final lap. Kermagoret had to launch his bike in an epic pursuit against the Zimbabwean rider. However Kermagoret made his way back up to Kabablu in the final metres and edged him in a photo finish.
1st Place Race:
Roberto Di Nicheli vs Fernando Puertez
The home favourite was ready to fight in the last race of the Saturday eveningg at the United Cup. He would face an in-form Roberto Di Nicheli who really showed promise in the earlier points race. The two rolled round at a reasonable pace until the final lap where they stayed shoulder to shoulder all the way until Di Nicheli revved up the afterburners and took it from the Spaniard in the Sprint Final!
FINAL STANDINGS
Spoiler
1. Roberto Di Nicheli25pts
2. Fernando Puertez15pts
3. Maxime Kermagoret10pts
4. Nakoti Kabalu5pts
The second day would be one of mainly team events and a lot of drama, especially in the Keirin Semi-Finals, however all eyes were on Puertez to win the Team Sprint in front of a home crowd here in Barcelona.
The start of the 3rd session of the 2015 United Cup was the Qualifying for the Individual Pursuit. The pursuit has been a key part of the United Cup with the majority of the finals coming down to just a one hundredth of a second in it. This time out in Barcelona the favourite was former world record holder Takasaki Osowono and Canadian Ben Henterhill.
The Qualifying was lead by Tom Johnson for the first couple qualifiers, but was threatened by Kevork Papazian however Skype's Kevin Aasmae beat his time by 14 seconds setting the fastest time at 4:06.20. Next out was Alexander Gybev who began his pursuit up on Aasmae's time. He began to sprint on his last lap when he came clattering into the ground. Fortunately for him he was able to get back up on to his feet and walked safely into the track centre. The last rider onto the track was Osowono. The rider from Samsung was strong for the entire 4km and finished just short of the World Record with a time of 4:05.20. This meant that top 6 times would go on to face eachother in tonight's final to determine those all important ProTrack Ranking Points, those riders are below, as are the times of the other competitors.
FINALS
Spoiler
1st place Race :Takasaki Osowono vs Kevin Aasmae
3rd place Race:Sebastian Uhl vs Tomascz Kalinsky
5th place Race:Ben Henterhill vs Ramunas Walsh
Standings
1. Takasaki Ososwono4:05.28
2. Kevin Aasmae4:06.20
3. Sebastian Uhl4:11.67
4. Tomascz Kalinsky4:12.01
5. Ben Henterhill4:18.97
Spoiler
6. Ramunas Walsh4:20.22
7. Tom Johnson4:20.38
8. Kevork Papazian4:20.42
9. Martin O'Connor4:24.13
10. Tyler Thompson4:26.58
11. Julien Befereq4:27.87
12. Anders Berg4:28.02
13. Marceau Ynevs4:29.49
14. Rapheal Gerbarer4:29.50
15. Frederico Tabo4:29.73
16. Fritz Hundssen4:30.13
17. Stefan Heillden4:35:69
18. Alexandr GybevDNF
The Keirin is one of the more famous track disciplines due to its speed and excitement as well as the simplicity of the race. The race originated in Japan is a full on race that is lead by a derny bike for 4 laps until the riders are let out to battle it out for the victory.In this race there will be 3 semi-finals, and the top 2 finishers will proceed to the final.
Race 1
Competitors: Fernando Puertez Alexandr Gybev Tyler Thompson Iaylo Filipov Dennis Van Vayen Kevork Papazian
The race started out well with no-one overtaking the derny bike, and then they were released with 3 laps to go as per the usual. Papazian hit the front early and attempted to give it a shot. The group reacted and Gybev chased it down. However it inevitably ended in a bunch gallop. Puertez sprinted for most of the final lap giving him a conincing win over 2nd place Van Vayern in a close sprint behind.
Standings:
Spoiler
1. Fernando PuertezQ
2. Dennis Van VayenQ
3. Kevork Papazian
4. Tyler Thompson
5. Iaylo Filipov
6. Alexandr Gybev
Race 2
Competitors: Mark Dendfelstein Anders Berg Nakoti Kabalu Maxime Kermagoret Ramunas Walsh Sebastian Uhl
This race looked like the toughest on paper with no clear favourite. However the race had to be restarted after Ramunas Walsh passed the derny bike on the first pace lap after he claimed that he was in danger of causing a collision between himself and Berg. He fought his case, and the WCU commisaires checked the incident over and over until they reached a verdict. They had decided that Walsh shall be eliminated from the qualifying race which didn't go down well in the PCM.Daily camp who experienced jubilation the night before in the United Cup. The race really commenced and it went by the routine and ended in a very tight and dirty sprint with a near crash situation to Sebastian Uhl who was pushed in by Kabalu. After the race there was a mass investigation and the results were not finalised until the last race was finiahed!
Standings:
Spoiler
1. Maxime KermagoretQ
2. Nakoti KabaluQ
3. Sebastian Uhl
4. Mark Dendfelstein
5. Anders Berg DSQRamunas Walsh
Race 3
Competitors: Tom Johnson Lars Baanders Roberto Di Nicheli Tomascz Kalinsky Takasaki Osowono Jesper Janssen
This race was expected to be won by an extremely in-form, and ProTrack Rankings leader Jesper Janssen but he also had opposition from Di Nicheli as well. The race was a close affair in the end with Janssen and Di Nicheli and Osowono paced away but Osowono couldn't hold on with the pace in the sprint and the duo in the lead just strolled over the line with a qualification in the bag.
Standings:
Spoiler
1. Jesper JanssenQ
2. Roberto Di NicheliQ
3. Takasaki Osowono
4. Lars Baanders
5. Tom Johnson
6. Tomascz Kalinsky
The final of the Team Pursuit would be the first of the night. As we explained in the qualifying rounds, it is a 2-man time trial against the clock. In the final there will be 3 races to battle out for the points.
5th Place Race:Siemens vs Spotify
This race was a close one and the Swedish duo fought hard to come from behind in the start of the second kilometre, however the pairing of O'Connor and Puertez was too strong for the Spotify team after Martin O'Connor rode home to win their team a well earned 5th place.
3rd Place Race:PCM.Daily vs Getronics
The German team Getroinics had the upper hand in qualifying but the final was different after a mix of splits gave the Janssen, Walsh team the win after a very close finale.
1st Place Race:Samsung vs Skype
This was the proper race and it looked like WCU World Champions Samsung were going to take the maximum points after a strong showing in qualifying yesterday. However Kevin Aasmae and his team mate Papazian looked the strongest after hitting World Record pace at multiple time checks. The Korean Samsung team looked formidable, but the Skype duo smashed their train after breaking Samsung's World Record, that they set at the WCU World Championships last April with an incredible sub 2-minute time.
From one team event to another, so the last event of the morning session is the Team Sprint Final, which would be contested in 2 different races, for 1st and for 3rd. There was a huge opportunity for the home crowd to see a home victory from the Siemens team.
3rd Place Race:Gazzetta Dello Sport vs Wiggle
This race looked close with the two teams having an anchor sprinter and a decent lead-out man. Gazzetta's line up was the old pairing of Gevenezzi and Di Nicheli. At the opposite side of the velodrome the Wiggle team prepared with their riders Kermagoret and his team-mate and British Champion Josh Wintle. The power of Gevenezzi instantly gave the Italian team a lead out of the blocks, and after that the sprint began. Kermagoret gae it all he could to close the defosit, but Di Nicheli ran away with the 3rd place win.
1st Place Race:Siemens vs PCM.Daily
The huge roar was lifted from the Velodrom d'Horta when the announcer read out the name of Siemens' sprinter, Fernando Puertez. They were matched up with PCM.Daily's duo of Walsh and Janssen, who currently lead the ProTrack Rankings coming into the race. Siemens had the experience but PCM.Daily had the form, this seemed like an epic duel. The gun fired and the teams were off, the PCM.Daily team had a much better start out the gates, however Nakoti Kabalu get it everything in the sprint to keep the race equal again, and coming into the final lap, it seemed that way. The Great Dane accelerated with all he had as did Puertez who was spurred on by a wall of noise and a wall of Spanish flags. Coming up to the line Puertez looks like he has the advantage but it was a lot closer than I expected. Siemens get the win, to the crowd's delight.
The final session of the United Cup meet would be a night of solely race finals and a night that could be one to remember for the Spanish crowd as Puertez was racing in two of his best disciplines tonight under the floodlights. Beware of some spills and a lot of splitting up on the journey though.
The Scartch is a straight up race, and with home boy Fernando Puertez as favourite is was one not to miss for the Spanish fans. This discipline is known for it's franticness and crash probability so watch out for some riders hitting the deck in this fast race.
Scratch Race Final
"So we begin the scratch race now and there is an early breakaway it contains the samsung rider Tom Davies and PCM Daily's Stefan Heillden. They are off at a fast pace and are about half a lap up now on the main group. They are closing in on the catch fast, this would surely be the race over as a big contest. They are just 20 metres from catching the main group as Davies pulls up to allow Heillden to take his turn on the front but Davies has come down to early and collided with Heillden's back wheel and they both clatter onto the ground! They are both up in time to rejoin the peleton."
"Now With the race now all together we have just 10 laps to go. The pace is slowing down and Look Its Walsh moving onto the attack! He is really powering away. The Siemens are really going to have to work now. We now have just 7 laps to go. We can see Walsh now half a lap ahead of the... Oh My God HUGE CRASH in the bunch lets have a look who is down. It is Tomachev Gevenezzi who looks worst off he is not moving on the inside of the track. It looks like Spotify's Sebastian Uhl has dusted himself off and is back in the peleton. It looks like around ten riders who have gone down and are staying out. We will get an update on their health as soon as possible. Now we have just 3 laps to go as the pace really begins to pick up. There is a break in the peleton as the front 9 move ahead. Walsh is slowly being reeled in and the race has just completely split."
"As the bell rings Puertez is going full out with Di Nicheli on his wheel as they come around now it is looking close. who will take it? We will need a photo finish to sort the front three as they all seemed to cross the line at the same time. What a great race. We have conformation the top three is Puertez from Di Nicheli from Walsh. The full results will be available soon."
FINAL STANDINGS
Spoiler
1. Fernando Puertez25pts
2. Roberto Di Nicheli 8pts
3. Ramunas Walsh15pts
4. Jesper Janssen12pts
5. Maxime Kermagoret10pts
6. Dennis Van Vayern8pts
7. Sebastian Uhl6pts
8. Francois Bougan4pts
9. Jan Van Aaferlecht2pts
10. Lars Baanders1pts
11. Martin O'Connor(Envolved in Crash)
12. Tom Davies(Envolved in Crash)
13. Stefan Heillden(Envolved in Crash)
14. Julian Befreq(Envolved in Crash) DNFTomachev Gevenezzi DNFJohn Bonnet-Kipplestein DNFRaphael Gerbarer DNFMarceau Ynes DNFIvaylo Filipov DNFLars Nys DNFTheo Ignazi[/i]
This is a grueling 4km battle against the clock. In this race there are 3 races as they face eachother, however if they are lapped the race is stopped and the winner is declared. Get ready for some close gaps in the Individual Pursuit!
5th Place Race:Ben Henterhill vs Ramunas Walsh
This race didn't seem close in qualifying after the Canadian distanced Walsh by 2 seconds but the Lituanian fought back in the final and gave Henterhill a slice of his fighting spirit. Walsh, who is tipped to win the NED-BE Trofee looked impeccable against Ben Henterhill PhD. Walsh ended up with a national record.
3rd Place Race:Tomascz Kalinsky vs Sebastian Uhl
This race seemed like Uhl's to lose against the Pole Kalinsky. Kalinsky was behind in qualifying and didn't look as strong as Uhl. However in the race, Uhl obliterated Kalinsky when he lapped the Pole in the final 3 laps. Uhl secured his 3rd place and posted a very solid 4:06.31 minute time, which would have landed him a place in the 1st place race.
1st Place Race:Takasaki Osowono vs Kevin Aasmae
The final looked set with the leader in qualifying Takasaki Osowono and the World Champion Kevin Aasmae in an epic battle. Aasmae looked the favourite after setting a World Record the session prior to the race. And in the race it was an excellent performance by Kevin Aasmae who smashed the United Cup Record and came in just a tenth of a second off Lars Hentorlm's World Record. Therefore Aasmae won the race and the maximum points leaving him with another win and a very respectable placing in the ProTrack Rankings coming into the Nederland-Belgie Trofee on Wednesday in Ghent.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Kevin Aasmae5:04.98UR
2. Takasaki Osowono5:05.28
3. Sebastian Uhl4:08.36
4. Tomascz Kalinsky4:12.01
5. Ramunas Walsh4:17.36
6. Ben Henterhill4:18.20
7. Tom Johnson4:20.38
8. Kevork Papazian4:20.42
9. Martin O'Connor4:24.13
10. Tyler Thompson4:26.58
11. Julien Befereq4:27.87
12. Anders Berg4:28.02
13. Marceau Ynevs4:29.49
14. Rapheal Gerbarer4:29.50
15. Frederico Tabo4:29.73
16. Fritz Hundssen4:30.13
17. Stefan Heillden4:35:69
18. Alexandr GybevDNF
The last event at the meet would be Keirin as always. After a win earlier on in the Scratch which was torn apart by a huge crash, the Keirin looked to be a hot affair with a whole heap of sprinting giants in the mix.
Contenders: Fernando Puertez Dennis Van Vayern Maxime Kermagoret Nakoti Kabalu Jesper Janssen Roberto Di Nicheli The Derny: "The head commisaire here, Mark Richards fires the gun as they get under way here for the last race of the evening and the meet, and I wouldn' doubt saying that its the most awaited of all. The favourites then are Janssen and the man in the Rainbow Jersey as WCU World Champion, but don't forget Roberto Di Nicheli, he's the one in the coulours of the Italian tricolour. The home crowd of course want their man Puertez to go away with a win in a discipline he is known to dominate in. Flash your minds back to when Barcelona held a United Cup meet, and Puertez crashed in the Keirin final leaving him out of contention for that year. They certainly hope that those events won't unfold again now, as we come up to the third lap of the derny, there is just one left and the riders are already thinking about positioning. Remember no-one can go ahead of the derny bike otherwise they will be disqualified as Ramunas Walsh found out earlier, but that can be disputed. 100m to go until the sprinters are launched and the proper race can get underway. Just a quick reminder then: we have Van Vayern in the Belgian flag jersey, Puertez in the Rainbow jersey, Janssen in the whit and black jersey with yellow sleeves. Kabalu is in the blue and orange kit of Siemens and Di Nicheli there at the back in the Italian flag kit. Well, the derny pulls off..." The Final 2 Laps: "There is a bit of argy bargy here with Kabalu and Janssen as the positions begin to matter. You don't want to be blocked in as Kabalu is now, but he just drifts to the back because Van Vayern has moved up. He takes Kabalu's place again. Kermagoret is leading it out from the front, and on his side we have Janssen and then Di Nicheli as the real sprint begins. Van Vayern might have a chance he is just tucked in and ready to launch as we hit the bell, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING! Kabalu drifts to the back, Puertez moves up the side Van Vayern is trying to move out, Kermagoret pounces up but OOOW, PUERTEZ IS DOWN IN A SPECTACULAR CRASH!! Van Vayern is down as well as their bikes fly all over the place, but Nakoti Kabulu just used his bike and threw it out the way to save himself. However, we need another look at that after, but at the front it is Janssen who is carrying Di Nicheli towards the line, but Di Nicheli ever so slowly gets round the Great Dane in A GREAT LUNGE for the line. It looks like it was Di Nicheli who took it ahead of Janssen and Kermagoret. A 3-man race there after the tragedy behind. The finishers are being asked to dive down the banking so they can avoid the accident because I think Van Vayern is in deep pain. He definitely has a nose bleed but he is clutching his collar bone as well. Puertez is just on the floor with his head to the track, it doesn't look good for him.
FINAL STANDINGS
Spoiler
1. Roberto Di Nicheli25pts
2. Jesper Janssen17pts
3. Maxime Kermagoret12pts
4. Nakoti Kabalu7pts DNFFernando Puertez5pts DNFDennis Van Vayern3pts
Known for hosting the famous 6 Days event in the winter, the Eddy Merckx Velodrome in Ghent will be the host for the first round of the Nederland-Belgie Trofee. This series is hosted for three rounds in different velodromes over Holland and Belgium. It is exclusively for U24s only (that includes 24 year-old riders). This velodrome can house 6,800 spectators and has an amazing atmosphere, probably the best in all of track cycling, excluding the last day at the ETS.
Competitors
Since this race is exclusively for riders under the age of 24, the roster of competitors changes every year, so we have devised a list of the 13 riders that will feature at the NED-BE Trofee.
Maxime Kermagoret16yrs Tomas Linkwurst18yrs Stefan Heillden18yrs Lars Baanders18yrs Theo Ignazi20yrs Jean Bonnet-Kippelstein20yrs Ivaylo Filipov22yrs Rapheal Gerbarer23yrs Ramunas Walsh23yrs Kevin Aasmae23yrs Tom Johnson23yrs Samuel Linkwurst24yrs Keork Papazian24yrs
Ones To Watch
Maxime Kermagoret(Sprint, Keirin, Scratch, Madison)
Kermagoret had a fantastic opening meet at Barcelona at the weekend, and he looks to carry that form onto the NED-BE Trofee. Lying 5th in the ProTrack Rankings is a great start and it looks like Kermagoret will hold on to this and go onto focus to win the Trofee.
Kevin Aasmae(Pursuit, Madison, Points Race)
After breaking the World Record in the Team Pursuit in Barcelona, the Estonian looks to be in great form. He is lying the highest out of anyone in this series in the Rankings and will look to go for the overall and especially focusing on winning the Pursuit disciplines. I wouldn't count him out of the Madison as well after all the Skype team are WCU World Champions in that very discipline.
Schedule
The NED-BE Cup is known to go deep into the night and finish at around 1AM which is a brave spectacle, and the whole meet is in one night! That means a lot of races so fatigue is big point in this series.
Points
The Endurance Disciplines Points Race, Scratch, Madison
Graham Whitehead Chairman of the WCU
Kevin Aasmae
Fernando Puertez 6-1
Sebastian Uhl 12-1
Jesper Janssen 12-1
Roberto Di Nicheli 16-1
Nakoti Kabalu 18-1
Maxime Kermagoret 30-1
Takasaki Oswono 45-1
Marc Dendfelstein 65-1
Ramunas Walsh (Keirin, Individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit, Points Race, Scratch)
Dennis Van Vayern
Samsung vs 
Maxime Kermagoret 25pts 
Wiggle
Martin O'Connor's Lap: " The clock starts to tick as the Irishman O'Connor attempts to set the best time here at a floodlit Velodrom d'Horta in Barcelona. He looks strong now as he comes up to the split. He is up on the time of Van Aaferlecht at the split and he might well do it now coming off the back corner. Pushes all the way to the line and it is second place for O'Connor of the Siemens team. He was +0.073 on the line in the end, heartbreakingly close."
Paul Forster 29pts
Tomascz Kalinsky 4:12.01
Ben Henterhill 4:18.97
Alexandr Gybev
Iaylo Filipov
Kevork Papazian
Lars Baanders
Rapheal Gerbarer 4:29.50
Fritz Hundssen 4:30.13
Tomas Linkwurst 18yrs
