Location: Manchester Velodrome, Manchester
Event: 6-12 October 2013
Report: Larry Hickmott
The podium was a busy place on day six of the 2013 UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships with eleven world titles awarded. Great Britain continued to open up a gap on the other countries in the medal table with the USA still in second and Australia in third.
Men's Team Sprint
This was a win for the "Brookes Cycles & The Interloper" team after the fastest team in the competition, Australia, were relegated after their change in the final was deemed to be illegal. The bronze medal was a win for Team Terminator, who after a disappointing start in the qualifying, made sure there were no mistakes in the final to see off the challenge of the USA.
Women's 35-39 Sprint
Australian Jessica Laws won the gold medal in this event after beating Dutch sprinter Carolien van Herrikuyzen two rides to nil in the final. The bronze was won by another Aussie, Rebecca Wheadon, who also defeated her rival Julie Dominguez of Great Britain two nil.
Women's 40-44 Sprint
Dana Walton from the USA won this sprint title in two straight rides over Erin Criglington of New Zealand. Bronze went to Australian Renee Covington who beat her compatriot Catherine Hooton two nil.
Women's 45-49 Sprint
Gea Johnson won this all American final, beating Buffie Wuestwewald in two straight rides. Denmark's Janni Bormann defeated Britain's Debbi Capewell two rides to one in one of the most competitive sprints in the competition with little between them.
Women's 50-54 Sprint
Petra Kluender of Germany was the winner of this sprint competition beating Tara Unverzagt of the USA two rides to nil. Japan's Makiko Hamada beat the champion from the USA, Jane Chateaubriand also in two straight rides.
Women's 55+ Sprint
Britain's Brenda Tate won this competition in two straight rides beating fellow Brit, Glynis Francis. The bronze was won by Bonnie Woodbury of the USA who prevented a clean sweep by the Brits by seeing off the challenge of Britain's Gwynneth Rixon, also in two straight rides.
Men's 35-39 Points Race
Two lap gains was enough to give Jason Meidhof of the USA the title in this event after a race that saw 13 starters and only eight finishers. The rider from the USA scored points in all but two of the 12 sprints as well as gaining the two laps to give him a final score of 67 points, well ahead of the 38 points from his nearest challenger Robert Reid from Australia. Third was Julien Muselet of France on 26 points.
Men's 45-49 Points Race
Italian Guiseppe Ravasio won the Men's 45-49 points race after gaining two laps in the 80 lap event, 20 points ahead of Phillipe Daugeard of France. With a full field and only two retirements, it was a very competitive race for the medals early on but as the race went on, it became very clear who the eventual medallists were going to be.
No less than seven riders gained laps during the race which mean the sprints for points was crucial and whilst the gold was a decisive win for Ravasio, the silver and bronze medals went to countback on the final sprint with both Daugeard and Luca Salvadeo of Italy finishing on 34 points.
Men's 40-44 Points Race
In one of the most exciting races of the championships, Britain's Gerry Bowditch, overcame a two point deficit before the final sprint to win the title by a single point. In a race where eight riders gained a lap, points won in the sprints were key to any riders medal hopes and with those points shared between quite a few riders, the names of the medallists was changing with each sprint right up until that final sprint. Second in the race was Jean-Philippe Meret whilst Italian Alessandro Picco got himself onto the podium with a last lap win to give him enough points to tie with Argentian Matias Gullino but the Italian's better final position got him the bronze medal.
Men's 50-54 Points Race
This 60 lap race for the rainbow jersey was won by French Canadian Stephane Le Beau whose attacking off the front saw him net 23 points, almost 10 clear of his nearest rival, Colin Parkinson (14) of Great Britain with Nigel Stephens, also of Britain, in third on 12 points. Le Beau scored maximum points in two of the six sprints and a second place in the dash to the line which when combined with the ten points for the lap gain, made him the clear winner.
During the race, four riders gained laps but it was only Le Beau who capitalised on that by also doing well in the sprints. Second placed Parkinson scored points in the final two sprints to ensure he was on the podium whilst two points in the fifth of the six sprints was enough to get Nigel Stephens the bronze medal.
Men's 55-59 Points Race
No laps were gained in this 60 lap race so the sprints were important to anyone with an eye on a medal. Only eleven riders started but of them, three riders dominated the sprints and they filled the podium spots; Sylvan Adams (Canada), Chris Davis (Gbr) and James Rutherford (Gbr). Adams was clearly the strongest with three sprint wins from the six and three second places whilst Davis won one and scored in all but one of the others.
Rutherford meanwhile also scored in all but one sprint and for a long whilst was in second place until Davis overhauled his points tally to move into the silver medal position.
Medal table after day six (based on gold medal wins)
1. GREAT BRITAIN 25 (gold)
2. UNITED STATES 16
3. AUSTRALIA 8
4. NEW ZEALAND 5
5. ARGENTINA 2
6. CANADA 2
7. Finland 2
8. Latvia 2
9. France 1
10. Italy 1
11. Denmark 1
12. Germany 1
