Bauge blasts through to sprint semis

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There was a wide range of tactics and some very good sprinting on show in the 1/8 finals, with two big names losing out and now needing to rely on the repechage to get back into the medal hunt.

The first heat saw a fine display of power from 2009 champion Gregory Bauge(France). He was a couple of lengths behind Lei Zhang at the bell, but blasted by without problems to seal his place in the next round.

A more dramatic contest would be seen in the next duel. German rider Robert Forstemann was up against Chris Hoy but had the distraction of a bike problem, which delayed their run-off by several minutes. However once the mechanics had finished their work, he immediate jumped clear from the start and opened a massive lead, greatly increasing the crowd's excitement.

Hoy chased desperately and was many lengths behind with a lap to go. He reeled in Forstemann all the way to the line but ended up half a wheel short, thus facing a slot in the repechage.

Australian rider Shane Perkins was up against Carsten Bergemann in heat three and, in a straight head to head, showed his speed when he pulled well clear on the finishing straight. His compatriot Scott Sunderland had a less successful showing in his contest with Kevin Sireau, losing out by half a wheel.

Last year's silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) also found himself facing a race in the repechage when he was beaten by Jason Kenny (Great Britain) in the penultimate heat. Kenny accelerated hard with a lap and half to go, opening up three lengths and fending off Awang's efforts to get back in touch.

The final clash was between Francois Pervis and Matthew Crampton. The Frenchman came from behind to take it with a well-timed lunge, nipping past the Briton and progressing to the next round.

British rider Matt Crampton earned his place in the next round when he came out best in the first repechage. Chinese rider Lei Zhang wound things up before Sunderland jumped heading onto the final lap. He was still head on the finishing straight but the Briton nipped past relatively easily and went through.

Olympic champion Chris Hoy did things the hard way to win the second repechage, being forced to chase Carsten Bergemann (Germany), who was a couple of lengths clear at the bell. Malaysian rider Azizulhasni Awang was perfectly placed on his wheel and came up between the two on the finishing straight, but ended up a few inches short with his lunge.

The men’s sprint continues during Saturday afternoon’s sixth session with the quarter-finals.

Bauge, Hoy through without problems in 1/16 finals

Defending champion Bauge started off the match sprinting by winning the first head to heat sprint. The Frenchman beat Ethan Mitchell (New Zealand) by a bike length, going through to the 1/8 finals.

Chris Hoy had little trouble in taking the next heat, holding off Damian Zielinksi. The Polish rider jumped hard from behind Hoy on the final lap but could get no further than level with his chainset before fading.

In heat three, Shane Perkins (Australia) led from the front, winding up the pace on the final lap and easily holding off Denis Dmitriev (Russia). Kévin Sireau (France) used the same tactic in the next duel, pulling away from Josiah Ng Onn Lam all the way to the line.

It was France versus Malaysia again in the next heat. Michael d'Almedia, one of the trio who won the team sprint two days ago, was up against keirin silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang. The little Malaysian kicked hard with a lap and a half remaining, taking the front, he paused briefly, and then went again to beat his rival by a bike length.

There was a closer battle in heat six, when Francois Pervis (France) came back from several lengths down with one lap to go to inch past Sam Webster (New Zealand). Matt Brampton (Great Britain) then followed the same pattern in beating Andrii Vynokurov(Ukraine) in heat seven.

Brampton's team-mate Jason Kenny was clearly quicker than Daniel Ellis (Australia) n heat eight, ensuring that there would be three Britons in the next round.

Scott Sunderland (Australia) chose to go early in his ride opening an insurmountable gap over Edward Dawkins (New Zealand). Carsten Bergemann (Germany) did likewise a couple of minutes after that, but hit the gas even earlier in the heat and finished well clear of Miao Zhang (China).

Just two more matches remained at that point. Robert Forstemann (Germany) jumped at the bell to beat Jason Niblett (Australia), while Maximilian Levy was passed early by Lei Zhang (China) but was able to come back in time. This ensured three Germans would also be in the next round.

Bauge fastest in 200m flying start

Gregory Bauge showed he had every intention of defending his 2009 men’s sprint world title by setting the fastest time of the 46 riders in the qualifying time trial on Saturday morning. The Frenchman went off last and clocked 9.896 to beat the previous best mark set by Great Britain's Chris Hoy, the Olympic champion.

Two other riders went under the ten-second barrier, namely Shane Perkins (Australia) and the Frenchman Kévin Sireau, the 2009 bronze medallist. The latter's team-mates Michael D'Almelia and Francois Pervis showed the collective strength which earned France gold in the team sprint when they took the next two placings, completing the top six. Last year's silver medallist Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) didn't have a good TT, placing only 20th.

The least fortunate rider was the Frenchman Charlie Conord, who was sent tumbling when his wheel skidded during his TT. He had the option to restart but, battered and bruised by the dramatic fall, deciding to take an early exit.

Women’s omnium:

200m flying start

Yvonne Hugenaar (Netherlands) came out best in the opening event of the women’s omnium, going quickest in the 200 metre time trial. The 2009 bronze medallist averaged over 63 km/h to clock a time of 11.376 for the flying 200m TT. She was over three tenths faster than last year’s silver medallist Tara Whitten (Canada) and Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (Spain).

Vilija Sereikaite (Lituania), Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso (Cuba) and Liz Armitstead (Great Britain) took places four through six, while the US hope Sarah Hammer was next. Defending champion Josephine Tomic was back in tenth.

Scratch race: Defending champion crashes, then later withdraws from competition

Charlotte Becker slipped away early on and took a lap in the women’s scratch race, thus ensuring a relatively straightforward win for herself. The German nipped away soon after a crash on lap three brought down 2009 champion Josephine Tomic. The Australian’s rear wheel slipped on the steepest part of the banking and she slid downwards, taking out Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso (Cuba) in the process.

Both riders restarted and went on to finish the race. However Tomic would later decide not to continue in the next round of the Omnium, thus relinquishing her title.

Becker succeeded in taking a lap, then tucked into the centre of the group. The pace became very slow and gradually built up as the finish approached. Hammer kicked clear with three laps remaining, staking everything on being able to hold off the bunch. Gonzalez Valdivieso was chasing hard and brought the others up to Hammer on the final lap; for a moment it looked like the individual pursuit winner would be able to hold on, but she was pipped at the line by Evgeniya Romanyuta (Russia).

The two looked like they'd taken second and third, but both were subsequently relegated. Hammer flicked upwards towards some riders when they were close to her back wheel, while Romanyuta rode on the blue band during the sprint.

The final standings of the scratch round were adjusted to reflect this; Becker was best, then Liz Armitstead (Great Britain), Xiao Juan Diao and Renata Dabrowska.