European track Championships - Jason Queally wins Gold at 40

Great Britain were the big winners in the opening day of the inaugural European track cycling championships winning two of the first blue jerseys awarded on Friday 5^th November in Pruszkow.

Jason Queally became a gold medallist at the age of 40 in an event he’s never competed in at international level. Great Britain showed their intentions before London 2012 as they beat Russia in the men’s 4km pursuit by over four seconds with Ed Clancy, Steven Burke, Andrew Tennant and Queally.

Russia got off to the better start but was soon overhauled by the Olympic champions by the end of the first lap. The Russians held on for the first eleven laps with the time split hovering around 0.3 seconds, but the Brits put their foot on the gas and dropped their opponents with ease. The Netherlands took the bronze ahead of Spain who just weren’t able to hold on to the pace of the Dutch.

Drama on the Track

In the women’s the drama came in the third place final when Germany looked like they were a certainty for the bronze. With half a lap to go the Germans were comfortably leading leading by 1.2 seconds over Belarus as Verena Jooss began to drop off the back. In the women’s even the time is taken when all the riders cross the line, unlike in the men’s where they can drop a rider.

The mistake nearly cost Germany the medal, but in the end the crossed the line a measly 0.2 seconds ahead. Great Britain won their second gold medal of the night in dominating form nearly passing Lithuania before the finish line taking almost four seconds out of them.

False Starts and Tension

The tension could have been cut with a knife after a false start in the women’s team sprint between France and Great Britain. Clara Sanchez in the man-two position left before the gun and the second start was delayed while the commissaire was unhappy with the French team.

It didn’t seem to faze Sandie Clair who got off to a stunning start pulling out 0.2 seconds out on the Brits. Victoria Pendleton took the reins on the final lap and managed to close the gap but it was too much for her as France took gold by over a bike length.

Britain was denied again on the opening day after a bad change over in the team sprint qualifying put them in the bronze medal in the decider. They easily beat Poland in to third with Matt Crampton taking the drive to the line.

All eyes were on the final however where France met world champions Germany who took the fastest time in qualifying. Robert Förstemann got the Germans off to a flying start, but the French pulled back as Kevin Sireau took the mid-leg. 2004 Olympic champion Stefan Nimke took the last leg and the big German was hard to catch as he snuck across the line 0.2 seconds ahead of Michael D’Almedia.