Track Cycling News & Racing Round-up, Monday, February 8, 2010

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Date published:

February 8, 2010, 22:00

• Accident puts Godfrey’s nationals campaign in doubt

  

  Article published:

  February 2, 2010, 09:05

  By:

  Greg Johnson

  Kiwi hopeful of return in time for worlds

  New Zealand track rider Hayden Godfrey is hopeful he’ll recover from a training accident in time to contest the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark next month. Godfrey underwent surgery on his arm last week to remove glass and paint fragments from his arm after a car turned in front of him while training shortly after returning from the Track World Cup round in China.

  Godfrey believes it’s unlikely he’ll return quickly enough to contest New Zealand’s national track championships on March 1. “At this stage I have not pulled out of nationals but I am being told it is very unlikely it will be healed enough to race with,” Godfrey told Cyclingnews. “I have little strength in my hand and the biggest problem is the wound is right where my aerobar pad sits under my forearm. I was looking forward to racing the Omnium at nationals and with my current form expect I would have gone pretty good."

  Godfrey took a silver medal in the men's scratch race at the Chinese World Cup round in Beijing. He’s hopeful that performance will help with his selection in the Worlds squad, providing his recovery is on track.

  “The nationals are an important selection race for worlds but after the Beijing World Cup I think I've proved I’m on track for worlds,” he said. “It’s obviously going to depend on the next couple of weeks, to see what training I can do and how well the injury heals. Worlds are still seven weeks away and I’ll be working closely with BikeNZ medical staff to rehab the arm as fast as possible and make sure my form is at 100 percent come race day, but right now only time will tell.”

  The vehicle turned across Godfrey while he was training on a straight piece of road. With no warning of the car’s sudden movement, Godfrey said he looked up and simply had nowhere to go.

  “My handlebar has broken the window of the car and I have stuck my arm through it then gone over the car, pulling my arm back out, cutting my forearm quite deeply in a U shape flap before flipping over the car and landing head first,” he recalled. “My helmet definitely saved me from serious head injury and was destroyed. It was a real bleeder, but apart from my arm I came out relatively unscathed.

  “At the hospital they decided pretty quick it needed operating on especially after an x-ray reveled glass and paint fragments imbedded deep in the wound,” he added. “I didn't get the operation until the next morning when they pulled the glass and paint out and sewed the muscle back together.”

  Godfrey claimed the UCI’s world champion rainbow stripe jersey in the omnium at the 2008 worlds in Great Britain.

• Meares managing fatigue ahead of worlds

  

  Article published:

  February 2, 2010, 23:24

  By:

  Cycling News

  Australian skipping national title challenge

  There’s no major concern over Anna Meares’ health despite the rider skipping this week’s Australian Track Championships, according to Australian Institute of Sport’s top cycling coach Shayne Bannan. Meares has sat out of the national titles race after blood work done before last month’s Track World Cup round in Beijing, China revealed she’s feeling the impact of a heavy training block.

  Meares is expected to return in time for the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark in early March.

  "She had the tests prior to the Beijing world cup meet," Bannan told SMH.com.au. "It's nothing to be majorly concerned about, but knowing that the world championships are only eight weeks away you try to take the risk factor out, which is what we're doing.

  "Anna loves riding in the national championships and it's her opportunity to represent Queensland as well, so she's really disappointed, but it's about the big picture," he added.

  Sitting out this week’s race means Meares won’t defend the her national championships in the sprint and time trial. Meares last missed the Australian championships in 2008 when a serious injury sustained at the Los Angeles Track World Cup prevented her from starting the race, before she made a sensational return to claim silver at the Beijing Olympic Games later that year.

• Parker perfect in world record ride

  

  Article published:

  February 3, 2010, 08:58

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Another Australian lowers the junior pursuit benchmark

  A year after Michael Hepburn broke the U19 men's individual pursuit world record for the first time, South Australian talent Dale Parker has lowered the mark further with a time of 3:13.958.

  The 17-year-old from Mt Barker was a surprise inclusion in the Australian team for last November's Melbourne Track World Cup - surprising not because of a lack of talent, but because of his prowess at such a tender age.

  Yesterday Parker again proved that his ability belies his years with his world record ride, the result of plenty of hard work and more than a few testing days on the bike.

  "Timmy [Decker, the South Australian Sports Institute head cycling coach] was great with me and I've had some days out on the road and on the ergo [trainer] where there have been some tears shed in training, and it's just all come together on the day," Parker told Cyclingnews.

  "Last night [Monday evening] I had a track session and I just felt on top of the world; I knew I still had to bring it out on the day and do it. I've been posting some good times in training and at the same time I'd had some bad days in training where I had to make sure the mental toughness was there and keep telling myself that everyone has some bad days," he continued.

  "I woke up this morning mentally tougher than I've ever been and there was no way I was letting anyone beat me today. There were some really great riders out there but I've done too much work to let that one get away."

  Whilst the junior world record in this discipline has been held by Australians in the past, most recently by 18-year-old Hepburn, Parker's ride wiped more than 1.5 seconds off the previous best of 3:15.586 recorded by the Queenslander at last year's Junior Track World Championships in Moscow. Parker finished sixth in that event at those championships.

  "We [Parker and Decker] sat down after junior worlds when I finished sixth in the individual pursuit and I saw Heppy [Hepburn] - I've always looked up to him and guys like Jack," explained Parker. "I remember Heppy saying to me, 'You'll be doing the same as me next year, mate'. I hoped that I would have been, and from that day forward I did all the 'one percenters' and knew I was going to give this [the world record] a crack."

  Of his world record-breaking ride, Parker explained: "There was a fair bit of hype with people saying I was going to break the world record; it was the same as last year, I had a bit of pressure after posting 3:17 as a first year [U19 rider] but I had in my mind that I wanted to go out today and just beat my PB [personal best], which was a 3:17.

  "Timmy put me on a 3:16 schedule in the heat and once I got going... I went out too hard but I just kept going, I couldn't stop myself. The hype and everything... I just wanted it so bad.

  "I got into a kilometre to go and I didn't know what was going on - I was seeing black blurs - so with a k to go it was all mental. I knew my legs weren't going to lift me, it was all from the heart. All the people out there who have helped me come as far as I have - I was thinking of those guys in the last k."

• Bobridge blasts his way into history

  

  Article published:

  February 3, 2010, 09:10

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Fastest man since 'the Superman' aims to go lower

  It's been 14 years since Chris Boardman rode that famous world championship individual pursuit in Manchester; his 4:11.114 considered unsurpassable, not least of all due to the 'Superman' position adopted to achieve the time.

  Yesterday Jack Bobridge, the 20-year-old current U23 road time trial world champion with fire in his belly and the world at his feet, gave us the first real indication that Boardman's time may well be toppled in the future.

  Bobridge's time of 4:14.127 may be almost three seconds slower than Boardman's time, but the abolition of the 'Superman' position means that it's the fastest in the world according to UCI regulations.

  "Boardman's record was achieved using the Superman position - the current fastest time is mine," Bobridge told Cyclingnews. "To know that I've ridden the fastest time in the regulatory position... you can't do much better but hopefully I can improve on it."

  What's most encouraging however, is Bobridge's attitude to further lowering the mark - he knows there are improvements to be made as it's early in the year and more than a month outside the UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

  "I believe that at the moment I'm not 100 percent; if someone asks me I would seriously say I'm at 90 percent," he explained. His next comments are ironic given that essentially it's the riding style dubbed 'the Superman position' that separates himself from the fastest individual pursuit time ever.

  "I think that extra 10 is when you're feeling like Superman and I can say that because I've felt my body at that level before. Every year you step up and you find a new 'Superman' in yourself. I really think that by the time worlds come I'll have that extra 10 percent," he explained.

  Bobridge and the current crop of Australian track-and-road stars are the poster boys for the clean generation of riders born outside the culture of doping and bred on the message - through their peers and national institutes - that it's not OK to resort to performance-enhancing substances.

  A consequence of this fact is that these young men need to know the workings of their bodies completely, something Bobridge explained he has further developed during his rise up the ranks. It's also a sign of his growing maturity as a rider.

  "Missing out on Melbourne World Cup and the time trial at road nationals was a decision based on knowing that my body isn't ready for that kind of load," he said. "I could have thrashed myself and maybe got on the podium but it definitely kept me fresh and the approach to worlds this year is going to be just right.

  "I love to use the road and the track as complementary preparation - they're both exciting. I've missed events at the start of this season, on the track and the road, just to get my head around things and take a different approach to worlds this year which should be of benefit to me when they come around," he added.

  As the London Olympics edge closer, more comparisons are being made to the all-conquering Australian team pursuit squad that won the gold medal in that event at the Athens Games. Brad McGee, Brett Lancaster, Graeme Brown, Luke Roberts and Peter Dawson formed part of the 'golden generation' of track-turned-road riders that the likes of Bobridge, the Meyer brothers, Rohan Dennis and Luke Durbridge use as inspiration for success in the future.

  After several lean years for the Australian team, during which time Great Britain's squad has become the premier pursuiting nation, it seems as though there's cause for optimism, revealed in the glut of fast times posted by young Aussies at this year's national titles. In the immediate future it also bodes well for this year's world titles in Denmark.

  "You look at the Pommies before Beijing; every one of the guys who stepped on the track for the team pursuit could ride sub 4:20. I've been saying that to all the guys in the team and it showed today - we've four, five, nearly six guys who are riding those sorts of times," said Bobridge.

  "Everyone's got a bit to improve on in their position, even myself. The two-and-a-half years before London is a long time and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do; even in another seven weeks in Copenhagen. It'll be time to step up again compared to last year.

  "My best before today was a 4:17.4 but now I've come out and done 4:14.4. And there's Rohan Dennis, who had the best time before that plus Travis Meyer, who rode a sub 4:20. It's awesome to see and we've still got seven weeks until the worlds," he added.

  As for his own development, Bobridge can see his future panning out similarly to two great pursuiters who have come before him - Bradley Wiggins and Bradley McGee. He believes a pro road career can keep his velodrome ambitions on track. "Hopefully by London, thanks to my contract with Garmin-Transitions on the road, I can get those bigger tours in my legs and get stronger. I'm riding bigger gears now but I don't think I'm in my proper individual pursuit gear that most guys ride," he explained.

  "No matter what, riding tours in the pro peloton you're doing them in the big ring and you get stronger. I know for a fact that guys like Wiggins and McGee [when he was riding] would ride bigger chainrings than I do at the moment.

  :At the end of the day I've produced slightly quicker times so I'm looking forward to getting stronger and being able to ride a bigger gear. It doesn't always mean you'll go faster but you never know until you give it a crack."

• Cure the remedy for Australian women's cycling?

  

  Article published:

  February 4, 2010, 09:17

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Young Tasmanian demonstrates great potential at national titles

  She's only diminuitive but Tasmanian rider Amy Cure has already made a significant impact on Australian women's cycling and there's plenty of cause for optimism for the years ahead.

  The 17-year-old from the Davenport region of the 'Apple Isle' is the current junior world champion in the scratch race and took silver in the women's individual pursuit at the same titles in Moscow last year. At the Australian national titles she won the U19 women's individual pursuit and points race, the latter in commanding fashion, with a level of race craft not normally seen in riders of her age.

  A likely reason for this fact is Cure's growing up on a diet of track racing, with her parents taking her to the Tasmanian Christmas Track Carnivals each year, where she developed a passion for the fixed gear despite starting her cycling life on a road bike.

  "I started going to the Tassie Christmas Carnivals as a little kid - mum and dad used to take us and we loved it so they decided to buy us a bike and it went from there. I started on the road but got into the track because I wanted to do both. My coach at the time, Darren Pugh, helped me out a lot and now I've stepped up with Matthew Gilmore."

  Gilmore, whose pedigree on the track is unquestionable having ridden for many years as a six-day racer, is the head coach at the Tasmanian Institute of Sport's cycling program and praised his young charge's tenacity after her individual pursuit win on the opening night of the national titles.

  "She's the typical Tasmanian type of racer - just goes out there and never gives up," he said. For her part, Cure keeps her race plan simple: "I always go into races looking to give my all, I don't like having anything left at the end. Whether it's club racing or the Australian titles I try to do my best in every single race," she said.

  She appreciates the role Gilmore has played in her development, with the partnership likely to continue paying dividends. "He's done great work with me, got me so much further, and he's a great coach," she explained.

  "He's an awesome bloke to talk to, both off and on the bike; he jokes around with you, and he's serious when he needs to be. If you have a crap day at training he's always like, 'Don't worry about it' and he knows you can come back stronger."

  As for the future, can Cure see herself on the roads of Europe as a professional, given her ability to read a race? The grit and stamina she displayed in the U19 women's points race at the national titles was a standout of the junior women's programme and promises plenty for the coming years.

  She won't be lured into grand predictions however, preferring to keep her eye on the more immediate future.

  "I'm still doing road - I love it just as much as the track - I want to try and do the road time trial at junior worlds this year now that I'm a second year junior," she explained. "I'll see how it goes, but I'd love to do the track and the [road] time trial.

  "I've had more opportunities on the track at the moment rather than the road but I'd love to be a professional on the road," she added. "I'm just going for the track right now thanks to those opportunities."

  With the senior Australian women's road team not taking a medal at a world championships or Olympics since Sara Carrigan's Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, could Cure be a future member of a senior national team that takes on the world's best at an Olympic Games or senior world championships?

  "It'll definitely be harder stepping up into seniors, racing with the women; we've got some good women in Australia, they're amongst the best in the world.

  "And I'd love to go to the Olympics - I think it's everyone's dream! There's a group of us that isn't crossed off the list yet but there's plenty of years to go, I'm only young! It'd be awesome if it does happen, though."

• Mørkøv and Rasmussen hit home Six Day with confidence

  

  Article published:

  February 4, 2010, 19:56

  By:

  Cycling News

  World Champions are in it to win in Copenhagen

  After snatching the overall victory in the Berlin Six Day from the hometown favourites, Robert Bartko and Roger Kluge on the last night, Danes Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen will be welcomed back to their home track to a hero's welcome for the start of the Copenhagen Six Day.

  The reigning Madison World Champions will now attempt to repeat that feat and claim their second consecutive victory at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen at the 48th edition of the Six Day which begins tonight.

  "We are looking forward to coming home to Ballerup Super Arena with a new victory which surely has given us the confidence that can make a difference. It is great to feel supported by the home crowd and their enthusiasm is obviously rubbing off on our own motivation. It gets me going and motivated that people are having positive expectations on our behalf. We have come home to win, " said Mørkøv.

  The pair will have to contend with two-time Copenhagen Six Day winners Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli, as well as the reunited German/Belgian pair Robert Bartko and Iljo Keisse, who have seven career victories to their name, and the powerful Dutch couple Danny Stam and Peter Schep.

• Pursuit experiment works wonders at Nationals

  

  Article published:

  February 5, 2010, 04:24

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Addition of Glasspool sets new precedent for endurance event

  South Australia's performance in the men's team pursuit at the Australian Track Nationals last night was significant for a couple of reasons, not least of all because of an experiment that could change the face of the discipline.

  The squad led by Tim Decker included a 1km time trial 'specialist', James Glasspool (pictured second from right, inset) who joined U23 road time trial world champion Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis and junior individual pursuit world record holder Dale Parker to record a time of 4:00.417.

  The idea yielded a new Australian record and could signal a revolution in the methods employed to attack the event, with the attributes of kilo riders brought to a race where traditionally track endurance riders have excelled.

  Kilo riders must be able to hold a high speed for four laps of a 250m track; add this type of athlete to a four-man effort and the effect could be stunning, as was last night's performance.

  Glasspool explained his role in the team was to provide a 'rolling platform' at second wheel, ensuring Bobridge launched his turn in the team's effort at top speed. Glasspool's pace over a kilometre was crucial to establishing the quartet on a fast schedule.

  "I did three-and-a-quarter laps; Rohan [Dennis] did one-and-a-quarter laps [at the start] then I did almost three-and-a-half," said Glasspool. "Rohan pretty much got us all up to speed - I just had to hold it a little bit and then increase in slight amounts.

  "I held that for two laps, and Jack had said to me before the ride that when I saw Tim [Decker], for the next three quarters of a lap just increase the pace and it will be like a motorbike, basically giving him a really good slingshot,"

  And that's how it eventuated, with Bobridge unleashing his fury after Glasspool had set up the move, with Parker and Dennis supporting him to the finish. The plan had worked, and Glasspool told Cyclingnews how the idea had originally fallen into his grasp.

  "At the Tasmanian Christmas Carnivals Tim [Decker, South Australian Sports Institute head cycling coach] approached me and told me that he had Jack, Rohan and Dale for the team pursuit and he wanted me to do the start.

  "He told me that he wanted me to do the first kilometre on the front; the original plan was to have me as the first rider, ride a tempo first lap to allow the other guys to get on and then just build them up over the next four laps.

  "When we came back from Tassie we were toying around with a few different ways of doing things, such as riding 90 percent for the first half lap and trying to be as accurate as we could. We started to think about it and said, 'Well, my lactate tolerance wasn't as great at that point, so we possibly needed to have a look at a few other ways of doing it - maybe have me do three laps'.

  "We ended up running with the second wheel idea - that way I wasn't going to start too hard and they were going to be slightly out of their comfort zone [at the beginning] and it was really just a matter of hanging on and getting the best start we could."

  Apparently the idea started life with the Great Britain coaching staff but it was an Australian quartet that executed it in competition, with a national record the result.

  Glasspool admitted that he felt a few nerves but after qualifying for the gold medal riding against the Western Australian quartet of Cameron and Travis Meyer, Luke Durbridge and Michael Freiburg.

  "I was probably more nervous the night before and the day of the ride. For about two hours after I got to the track [before qualifying] I was just walking around and using a lot of energy... trying to sort out different length cranks [he used 172.5mm cranks instead of his normal 170mm ones - Ed.], bottom brackets and all sorts of things and not concentrating on what I needed to do," he said.

  "Once we did the qualifying round and I didn't stuff the guys up - all the guys came off and said I did a really good job - I was a lot more relaxed and not worried about it. When I rocked up to the track before the final I was relaxed, had a good warm up - it was a lot better."

• McCulloch in cracking form ahead of worlds

  

  Article published:

  February 8, 2010, 22:00

  By:

  Les Clarke

  Australian sprinter pleased with performance at national titles

  Reigning women's team sprint world champion Kaarle McCulloch will head into next month's UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, a favourite to retain her title if her form at the recent Australian track national championships is any indication.

  The young sprinter from Sydney won four national titles during the week of competition in Adelaide, securing the green-and-gold jersey in the team sprint, individual sprint, keirin and 500m time trial.

  Naturally the affable 22-year-old was naturally upbeat about her performances during the national titles. "This week's been pretty positive and I've continued training through the week," said McCulloch. "I had gym last Monday and I did an hour on the road on Saturday; what I'm seeing is positive because I'm not really fresh at all," she explained.

  She was particularly pleased with her qualifying ride in the women's sprint, which came after a taxing trip to Beijing for the final round of the UCI Track World Cup. "I haven't done any speed work, really, which makes it encouraging for me to come out and ride an 11.3 [seconds] - a personal best - and know that I haven't done any speed work. I'm going to expect some pretty good times in Copenhagen," said McCulloch.

  One of those who has felt the effects of the Beijing World Cup is Anna Meares. The world champion withdrew from the national titles on the eve of the event to rest in preparation for Copenhagen. She's McCulloch's partner in the team sprint and her form will obviously be vital in securing another world title for the pair.

  McCulloch says she can learn from Meares' example in preserving her condition for important events. "I saw Anna this morning, and she's looking a bit fresher. I think she's been in the game long enough to know when her body's just tired and I think that's something I'm learning as well," she said.

  "In Beijing I was just tired and I just kept pushing myself; when you're tired you just don't have anything and so this week was largely about training and pushing through. I think my body has taken a step up and I've coped alright with the intensity," added McCulloch.

  Given her successful week in Adelaide, McCulloch's ambitions for the world titles are high. "I'm going to worlds to hopefully ride everything - that's what I've done at every world cup and world championships, and I think the way the program runs I can actually do that," she explained.

  "Leading into London it might change a bit with just the three events [on offer] - I might take a lesser focus on the time trial, which has been my strongest event, and probably focus more on sprint and team sprint."