Olympic Games 2012: Track Day Three

Welcome to Cyclingnews' coverage of day three of track cycling at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Here is what we have on tap for tonight (in local time):

16:00 Men's Sprint - 1/16 Final Repechages
16:11 Women's Team Pursuit - First Round
16:35 Men's Sprint - 1/8 Finals
16:54 Men's Omnium - 30km Points Race
17:34 Men's Sprint - 1/8 Final Repechages
17:42 Women's Team Pursuit - Finals
18:20 Men's Sprint - Race for 9th-12th Places
18:25 Men's Omnium - Elimination Race

Day three gets underway with a sudden death ride-off for the men's individual sprint. Riders must with their heat in order to advance to the 1/8 finals.

In heat 1: Ed Dawkins (NZL) and Hersony Canelon (VEN)
In heat 2: Damian Zielinksi (POL), Seiichiro Nakagawa (JPN)
In heat 3: Hodei Mazquiraran Uria (ESP), Bernard Esterhuizen (RSA) and Zhang Miao (CHN)

Following the sprint repechages will be the first round of the women's team pursuit - which is actually their second ride. Yesterday, two nations were eliminated. Tonight, the first round decides who goes to which final. The second ride determines the overall placing.

Dawkins drew the front and Canelon sits behind. Barely going walking pace at the start.

Dawkins lures Canelon to the front by going high up onto the banking.

Dawkins craftily lures the Venezuelan to take the front but his tactic does not work. He's not quick enough to come around.

It's Poland's Zielinski versus Nakagawa of Japan. The Japanese rider is in front, keeping a close eye on his opponent.

Nakagawa chooses to set the pace but Zielinski dives inside and takes a run heading into the last lap. The Japanese rider kicks again and just barely gets it on the line. He will move on.

Spain, South Africa and China up on deck: the young rider from South Africa Esterhuizen has been training at the UCI's center in Aigle. He was not pleased with his races this morning. The Spaniard broke his saddle in the qualifying and had to re-start. He was also not pleased.

Esterhuizen is tiny compared with the others. He takes the lead, the Spaniard comes past into the bell. Esterhuizen re-accelerates and takes the heat to move on. Great work by the 19-year-old.

First off for the women's team pursuit first round are the Dutch team: Wild, Koedooder (in for Pieters) and Van Dijk. They are against Germany (Arndt, Becker, Brennauer).

The Dutch coach is using an iPad to communicate splits to his riders. Interesting.

His advice seems to be working as the Dutch team are up by more than a second over Germany. 3:20.013 for NED, 3:21.086 for GER. That's a new Dutch record for the women's team pursuit.

New Zealand is up now - Ellis, Shanks, Nielsen - against Belarus: Sharakova, Papko and Dylko.

The Kiwis are taking it out slow - they're 0.8 behind the Belarus team.

The Kiwi coach is using his position relative to the finish line to communicate the gap to the riders. They're moving ahead of Belarus now.

The Belarus team gave it a big effort at the start and they paid the price. They've imploded in the final kilometer. Finishing in the same straight as the Kiwis...

Wow! 3:18.514 for New Zealand: well paced! The Belarus team in with 3:21.942.

The Kiwis have laid down a big challenge for the US, Australians and Canadians.

USA and Australia are away for their team pursuit. Big pressure.

USA is behind by 1.161 at the 1km mark

Hammer takes control and leads for two full laps.

She brought it back - Hammer continues to take long pulls.

What a heat! Hammer brought that one second back with a herculean effort. They beat the Aussies by a tad - 3:16.853 over 3:16.935 by Australia.

@KatherineLBates Sat, 4th Aug 2012 16:27:00

The USA team kept it together better than they did in qualifying - finished all three next to each other. Next up - Great Britain and Canada.

King, Roswell and Trott versus Whitten, Glaesser and Carelton.

Canada held the Brits to less than a second in the first km but are behind with 1km to go by 1.5s now.

Wow - new world record by GBR! 3:14.612. But more importantly, they will face the USA for gold, while Canada, in with 3:17.454 will go up against Australia for bronze.

It's time for the men's 1/8 sprint final. Esterhuizen has to face Kenny on his home turf. He's giving it a very good go. Even comes up to Kenny's rear hub but can't make it.

@spetty80 Sat, 4th Aug 2012 16:40:19

It's now Bauge' against Seiichiro of Japan. Seiichiro takes the lead, but Bauge, the world champion, pushes from behind.

It's a win by a mile for the Frenchman.

Venezuelan Canelon against Aussie Shane Perkins. He's recovering from a virus but showed fine form this morning.

Perkins dictates the pace, a slow walk with 3 to go. Daring the Venezuelan to come through.

Canelon goes high onto the banking, then drops down to take the lead. Perkins accelerates up high at the bell and gets a hook from Canelon!

Will Canelon be relegated? That was a blatant hook as Perkins was about to come flying past. The Aussie just sat up then - he must feel confident that was a relegation.

Njisane Phillip (TRI) will go up against Robert Forstemann (GER) next.

Phillip gets pushed to the front, but quickly goes up the banking to put the German in the lead.

He pushes Forstemann high up as he tries to accelerate from behind, then kicks into the bell to take a big lead. But the German won't give up. He pushes Phillip all the way to the line, but the Trinidadian gets the win!

Forstemann goes to repechage.

The judges have decided to relegate Canelon, so Perkins moves onto the 1/4 final, while the Venezuelan goes to repechage.

It's now Dmitriev (RUS) and house favorite Awang (MAS).

Awang had the lead, but the Russian jumped at the bell. The Malaysian just can't find the speed to get back on him and will go to repechage. Dmitriev advances with a blistering 10.278 second 200m - that's the fastest match yet.

Last up is the American hero - and we can call him that not because he's a sportsman but because he fights fires and saves people's homes and lives - Jimmy Watkins against the Czech Pavel Keleman.

Watkins is lurking behind Kelemen, moving up the banking and then back down, still 10m back.

WIth 2 to go Watkins accelerates, but the Czech matches it. It's time for the bell..

Watkins takes a bit run on the outside and look at his speed!!!

Watkins goes through to the quarterfinal - with ease. That was a huge win for the American, who was never expected to get through this far.

Next up is the points race which is now part of the men's omnium. Ed Clancy (GBR) leads the competition after winning the flying 250 this morning. Archibald (NZL), O'Shea (AUS), and Hansen (DEN) are the next in the standings.

After the first sprint, Hansen of Denmark attacks. Teruel, Cocquard, Choi and Hansen scored points in the sprint. 5,3,2,1 in that order.

If Hansen can lap the field, it's 20 points. But they are not letting him go. They are all taking turns pulling through.

Hansen stayed away to take 5 points in sprint 2, ahead of Irvine, Bell and Kluge. Hansen now leads over Teruel by a point. It's all back together in the peloton.

Perez was going on the attack but Hansen came down on him, looking over his right shoulder - Perez had to give him a push to stay upright.

Bobby Lea (USA) gets the next sprint, over O'Shea, Linarez and Hansen took another point in fourth.

Hansen is very aggressive in this race, he looked to go again but isn't getting distance now. Bell is the next rider to put a dig in.

Clancy makes his move, however, and sweeps past ahead of the sprint. He takes it over Perez, with Arango and Viviani behind.

Brief break by Kluge and Van Hoecke of Belgium but as they were brought back, the German went again. He has a quarter lap and the peloton is split.

Kluge took the five points, Hansen, Irvine and O'Shea got points. Hansen is still in the lead, now by four over Kluge. Clancy in third with Irivine, Lea and Teruel on five points.

We have a breakaway threatening to lap the field. IT's big - AUS, DEN, BEL, GER, IRL, FRA, ESP represented.

Kluge is going solo across at the bell before the sprint.

Kluge got the sprint over Van Hoecke, with Teruel and Coquard getting points.

The German takes the lead now thanks to lapping the field and that sprint. He leads Hansen, 31 to 30 points. Also lapping up are Teruel, Irvine, O'Shea, Coquard and Van Hoecke. That's the order on the board.

Kluge, a silver medalist in the points race in Beijing, is now on the wheel of Clancy who wants the lap back. It's Kluge on his wheel though, with Archibald and Hansen and Cho of Korea in a break. It's not working.

Kluge, a silver medalist in the points race in Beijing, is now on the wheel of Clancy who wants the lap back. He is with Archibald and Hansen and Cho of Korea in a break. It's not working.

Kluge, a silver medalist in the points race in Beijing, is now on the wheel of Clancy who wants the lap back. He is with Archibald and Hansen and Cho of Korea in a break. It's not working.

45 laps to go, and the peloton is all together. Kluge is keeping an eye on the others. The Colombian Arango has lost a lap, is -20 points. So has Mansilla and Linarez

Sprint 8 goes to Clancy, with Hansen, Bell and Lea picking up points.

Cocquard and Teruel go on the attack, and are marked by Kluge, Viviani and Cho. They've got a big gap on the rest of the field ahead of the sprint.

Cocquard gets the points over Teruel, Kluge and Viviani. The Italian's endurance is showing now as the five have a lead - Cho is in there too.

Irivine, Hansen and Perez attack the field as the five go for another lap. These will be the only three who won't get docked at the moment.

Lea attacks hard to get away.

Lea will get this next sprint and has half a lap now as Kluge goes for the rest o fthe points.

Viviani and Kluge are together chasing Lea who is two turns from lapping the field solo.

Lea is losing steam now, but Kluge and Viviani will be coming up to him soon.

Kluge currently leads the race overall, he and Viviani drop Lea as they head to the next sprint. He wont' contest it with the Italian - Kluge has 60 points now, Hansen in second with Cocquard in third. Irvine, Teruel, Viviani, Perez and O'Shea are next.  Van Hoecke and Cho round out the top 10. Lea is 12th just behind Clancy in 11th.

Hansen is closely marking a breakaway, he's with Teruel, Cocquard, Clancy and Choi heading to the final.

There was some delay posting the points for riders lapping the field, but we can confirm Kluge won, with Hansen, Teruel, Cocquard and Viviani in that order.

Next five: Irvine, Perez, O'Shea, Van Hoecke, Cho

11-15: Clancy, Lea, Bell, Archibald and Arango.

Linarez and Mansilla were at the bottom of the standings, the Chilean lost two laps.

Time for the men's 1/8 repechage heat. South African Esterhuizen is doing a kilo away from Forstemann and Kelemen to try to win, but the German catches and passes him in the final turn to win.

Men's omnium standings: Hansen leads now with 6 points, Coquard is second in 9, third and fourth are O'Shea and Viviani with 11. Clancy and Kluge are tied at 12.

Second repechage heat of three for men's sprint - Nakagawa, Canelon and Awang are up.

Awang shows Canelon that he can play the game too, he hooks him down onto the apron. It's a win for Awang.

So many events tonight: next up it's the final round of the women's team pursuit, where Germany and Belarus will go for 7th and 8th places in the first heat. New Zealand vs. The Netherlands for 5th-6th and then it will be bronze medal final for Australia and Canada followed by the gold medal round between USA And Great Britain.

The USA has decided to change up its pursuit team for the final - out goes Jennie Reed, in comes Lauren Tamayo. Can they challenge the British? 

The British will keep their lineup, denying Wendy Houvenaghel a shot at competing at the Olympics.

Belarus has a half second lead on Germany in this heat of the women's team pursuit final.

Belarus gets it, 3:20.245. The Germans pushed closer for a bit but then faded again. 3:20.824 for the Germans.

Kiwis on the front, Dutch on the back - team pursuit final heat 2.

The Kiwis have a 1.2s lead over the Dutch after 1km.

@grischaniermann Sat, 4th Aug 2012 17:50:09

@ds_stef Sat, 4th Aug 2012 17:54:11

The New Zealand team clearly superior - 3:19.315, they were four seconds quicker than the Dutch, who had 3:23.256.

Plenty of cheers for the Australians here - but the Canadians are the ones who take the early lead.

Australia rallies back, but when Whitten hits the front they lose a little ground.

It's neck and neck for bronze - Australia keeps it to tenths of a second. Final two laps...

Canada wins the bronze - it's first cycling medal of the Games - with 3:17.915. Australia just missed out - heartbreakingly close in 3:18.096.

Here we go - the showdown between the home country and the colonists. Great Britain versus the USA.

Two seconds down with one km to go for the Americans. No match for Great Britain and their fans, but they will win silver, not lose gold.

The USA are in danger of being caught.

New world record again for Team GB! 3:14.051 - spectacular.

USA celebrates with fist pumps, they never dreamed they would get to this moment - silver medals for all four. 3:19.727.

Dani King gets big hugs from her family while Trott takes her victory lap on the apron.

The crowd is full of emotion for these three riders. Roswell, Trott and King - the titans of the women's pursuit.

Sir Paul McCartney is in the house, as is Mark Cavendish to witness this brilliant moment - Britain's third world record, it's fourth gold medal of the Games in track cycling, and its fifth gold in cycling overall.

Sorry Rowsell, not Roswell.

We still have two more events to go: the 9th-12th final of men's sprint, and the elimination race for the men's omnium. First, however, is the women's team pursuit podium.

Amazing moment, Dick Pound and Pat McQuaid standing together, sharing the presentation of women's team pursuit medals.

Because of the timing, we'll have to close the live coverage of the track for today before the elimination race and men's 9th-12th team sprint final. We apologize. Please tune in for more live coverage of the track tomorrow.