Track World Cup 2012: Day 4 - Dissapointment for Mears and Pendleton

There was disappointment for Anna Mears and Victoria Pendleton in the Kerin, but there was success for Chris Hoy and Laura Trott.

Australia kicked off the gold rush, as they dominantly beat the current Olympic and World Record holders Great Britain. The Brits had a good start and lead for the first four laps, but Australia was quick to pull it back. It wasn’t long before the first cracks began to show and Steven Burke dropped out. Burke was sitting in man three position, forcing his teammates to quickly rearrange themselves. Things just fell apart from team GB after that and they lost a further second, before the finish line.

New Zealand didn’t look like they were being pushed too hard by the Belgians, in the bronze medal ride off. There was one moment of worry when the Kiwi’s lost their last man, but they were quick to realign themselves to put a lot of time into the Belgians. All the riders in this event had to wait since Thursday, when they set their qualifying times.

Is Cavendish's move to Sky a good choice?

Cycling’s worst kept secret has finally been revealed, with Mark Cavendish confirming he is heading to Team Sky; but is the Manx missile making the right choice?

There have long been rumours that Cav was heading to the British-based team, but his hand was forced when HTC decided to pull out of cycling. The newly crowned World Road Champion will be joining some of the men who helped him take the title in Copenhagen. Including this year’s Vuelta successes, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and Welshman Geraint Thomas. Other Grand Tour are Edvald Boasson-Hagen and, for the first time, another Manxman Peter Kennaugh. So, do Sky have the mother of all teams or the mother of all nightmares?

World Champs: Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas interviews

World Champs: Mark Cavendish takes the Rainbow Jersey Ahead of Matt Goss

Mark Cavendish becomes the first male British Road Cycling World Champion, since Tom Simpson did it in 1965, after a tense sprint to the line.

Cavendish already has two Madison World Championship titles and came in to this year’s event as one of the clear favourites. There were some tense moments as his lead out men Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard looked frantically around for the Manxman. Thomas has to drop down the field, as they were heading around the final corner, to find him, but the Welshman delivered him to the front on time.

The Manx express then had to do the work for himself, with none of his teammates around; he clung to the back wheels of his rivals. He finally launched his attack with around 200 metres to go and beat his, soon to be former, trade team teammate Matt Goss, by half a bike length. With the demise of HTC Goss will be moving to Green Edge and is looking to make his mark on the sprinting world. The Aussie got a good lead out from, his German-born, teammate Heinrich Haussler, but he couldn’t quite manage to stay ahead of Cav.

TdF: Sanchez wins on the Luz-Ardiden as Contador loses yet more time

Samuel Sanchez beat all of the other GC contenders, in the first big mountain stage, as Frank Schleck moved closer to the yellow jersey.

Sanchez began to pull away from some of the big names, with Jelle Vanendert, with around 13km to go. It was a Spaniard who had the legs, in the final couple of hundred metres and managed to pull seven seconds out on the Omega-Pharma Lotto rider. Hot on their heels was Frank Schleck, who moved himself in to second and 1 minute 49 second behind the yellow jersey of Thomas Voeckler.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Stage 6

TdF: Edaval Boasson Hagen times it right to beat Goss and Hushovd in Stage 6

Edvald Boasson Hagen finally made it stick, as he went from 200 metres out, to win a rain soaked stage 6.

Boasson Hagen had to hold off charges from experienced sprinters Matt Goss and, yellow jersey holder and compatriot, Thor Hushovd. Despite controlling the bunch several times, over the last few stages, this is Team Sky’s first victory of the 2011 Tour. The Norwegian took his opportunity, as the bunch was recovering from a series of attacks. He stayed behind his teammate and white jersey wearer, Geraint Thomas, until just the right moment to slingshot him to the line.

TdF: Mark Cavendish wins in crash filled Stage 5

Mark Cavendish has briefly silenced his critics after winning a hard fought final sprint on Stage 5 of the Tour de France.

Cavendish has been out of contention in the sprints so far, but he powered around the outside of the bunch to beat Philip Gilbert to the line. The gradient favoured Gilbert, who won on similar terrain a few days before, but the Manxman went the long way around to edge him out.

Tyler Farrar wins on Independence Day

Tyler Farrar made it a second stage victory for Garmin-Cervelo and rode in to the history books, as the first American to win on Independence Day.

Farrar’s first tour victory came after help from his teammate, and former green jersey winner, Thor Hushovd and Julian Dean. The American edged out Romain Feillu of Vacansoleil, by half a bike, Jose Joaquin Rojas. Farrar dedicated his victory to his best friend Wouter Weylandt, who was killed in a freak accident during the Giro D’Italia, by putting his hands in a W sign.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Stage 2

Garmin-Cervelo victory put Hushovd in yellow

Thor Hushovd claimed the yellow jersey, after his Garmin-Cervelo team edged out Cadel Evan’s BMC.

The American team completed the route in 24 minutes and 38 seconds, only 4 seconds ahead of BMC. Team Sky rounded off the top three on the same time as BMC and Leopard Trek, in fourth. Hushovd’s teammate David Millar is equal on time with the Norwegian, but as Hushovd crossed the line in front of Millar in stage one, he is the one to don the jersey.

Andy Schleck is in a better position than most of his rivals, with he and his brother, Frank, only four seconds down on Hushovd. Leopard Trek owe much of their performance to, the two time Olympic time-trial champion, Fabian Cancellara, who took several turns on the front. Team Sky’s performance means Geraint Thomas keeps the young rider’s jersey, also on the same time as his teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen. The British team had the edge on the American team at the first split, but slid back over the second half of the course.

Gilbert takes opener as Contador loses time

Philip Gilbert took the opening stage of the 2011 Tour de France, with a stunning final sprint, while Alberto Contador lost over a minute.

Gilbert made it made it past a crash, which took out half the field in the final eight kilometres, to set himself up for the short climb to the line. The Belgian champion looked like he’d run out of steam as several riders made their challenge. Fabian Cancellara launched an attack, which seemed to be the decisive one, but the Swiss rider wasn’t able to sustain the pace.

Gilbert didn’t panic and held off a closing Cadel Evans and Thor Hushovd, for the victory, this win adds to his stretch which goes back to April. Evans is in a very good position, only three seconds down on the yellow, while Alberto Contador lost over 1 minute 20 seconds.

The bunch had been seriously depleted when a spectator got a bit too close to the peloton, causing an Astana rider to fall into the group. The crash left most of the road blocked and several of the big favourites stranded. Contador was one of those who got caught up in the crash and has his work cut out, with Andy Schleck crossing the line only six seconds down.

Standings after the final round in the Track World Cup

After the fourth and final round of the Track World Cup in Manchester, here is a run down of all the standings and a link to the PDF.

Men's Sprint

1. Kevin Sireau (Fra) 42pts
2. Tsubasa Kitatsuru (JPN) 24pts
3. Jason Kenny (GBP) 20pts

Men's Individual Sprint
1. Rohan Dennis (AUS) 12pts
2. Geraint Thomas (GBR) 10pts
3. Marc Ryan (NZL) 8pts

Men's Team Pursuit
1. Spain 32pts
2. New Zealand 29pts
3. Great Britain 28pts

Men's Team Sprint
1. France 36pts
2. Great Britain 27pts
3. New Zealand 22pts

Track Cycling World Cup - Round Up Day 3

All was still to play for on the final day in Manchester with Great Britain putting on a stunning performance to take gold in the men’s team pursuit.

Opening up the evening session was the men’s team sprint where France edged out Germany to claim their second gold of the weekend. Kevin Sireau joined Gregory Bauge and Michael D’Almeida who qualified quickest, before taking the final by two tenths. Record Holders Great Britain took third place just ahead of Team Jayco.

Andy Fenn Takes Two in the Madison with Six-Day legend Franco Marvulli

The Le Col team of Franco Marvulli, Andy Fenn and Jon Mould took victory in the highly anticipated three-man Madison at Revolution 30 on Sunday 21st November 2010.

Six-day veteran Marvulli produced a brilliant final sprint to give him and his young teammates a hard fought win in the 80 lap event. Close behind were the Max Gear Racing team of Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Leif Lampater, who had been ahead for much of the race, but finished two points behind. The three-man Madison has been a common occurrence during the hugely popular six-day events, but it is the first time it’s happened at the Revolution.