World Cycling Centre track trainees shine in Moscow

Trainees from the World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, took numerous places on the podium at the major international track competition, the Memorial of Alexander Lesnikov, in Moscow.

"The results were very good and most importantly is that they gained valuable racing experience," said a satisfied UCI Track Coach Reneé Schmidt.

Competing against 195 riders from 19 countries, the WCC trainees returned to Switzerland with nine medals between them. A week earlier they won four medals at the Hopes of Moscow competition. Both competitions were held in the Krylatskoye velodrome.

The performances were promising in light of the World Track Championships in Manchester next March and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in August. In the women's 500-metre time trial, the WCC trainees completed a podium hat trick, with Lisandra Guerra (Cub) first, Natasha Hansen (NZl) second and Diana Garcia (Col) third.

In the men's team sprint, two WCC teams finished on the podium, taking first place with Morne Blignaut (RSA), Ricardo Lynch (Jam) and Christopher Sellier (Tri) and third place with Hersony Canelon (Ven), Angel Pulgar (Ven) and Cesar Marcano (Ven).

Added to these results were two more gold medals from Lisandra Guerra (women's keirin) and Diana Garcia (women's sprint) plus two silver medals from Angel Pulgar (men's keirin) and Daniel Novikov (men's 1KM time trial).

WCC's next major event is the first leg of the UCI World Cup Classics in Sydney, Australia, from November 30 – December 2. The athletes will then travel directly to Beijing for the second leg of the UCI World Cup, an Olympic Test Event, from December 7 – 12.