Track News
British Madison Championships
Mark Christian and Simon Yates are the 2012 National Madison Champions, taking the win in dominant style atManchester Velodrome. The 100%ME riders emerged victorious after fending off some strong, attacking riding from the pairing ofAlex Dowsett (Team Sky) and TomMurray (IG Sigma Sport) and a second team of 100%ME riders, George Atkins and Owain Doull.
Christian andYates won the first two sprints of the race while Dowsett andMurray grabbed the third. Christian andYates took the next sprint to extend their lead but then found themselves under real pressure after the halfway sprint. Dowsett andMurray attacked in an effort to gain a lap on the field, taking the following sprint in the process and, joined by Doull/Atkins, continued on to take a lap as planned.
However, Christian andYates were quick to respond and then also got away from the bunch to take a lap themselves and re- establish the overall lead. Thereafter, Christian andYates took two more sprint wins to leave them well clear of the other teams.
It wasn’t all over though as Atkins and Doull then tried one more big attack to gain another lap which would have swung the race in their favour. However, they were unable to reach the back of the field to make the junction and so the National title went to Christian andYates after 200 laps ofhard racing. Dowsett andMurray were second, just as they were in 2011 , while Atkins and Doull had to settle for third.
Results
1 . Mark Christian and Simon Yates 100% ME 31 pts 2. Alex Dowsett and TomMurray Sky Pro Cycling/Sigma Sport Specialized 23pts 3. George Atkins and Owain Doull - 100% ME 9pts 4. Adam Duggleby andAlistair Rutherford SportscoverAltura/Vanilla Bikes 14pts - 2 Laps 5. Joe Kelly and JonMould 100% ME 14pts - 2 Laps 6. TomMoses andAlistair Slater - 100% ME 12 pts - 2 Laps 7. Doug Dewey and David Sinclair - Terra/GWR - 4pts - 5 Laps 8. TomArnstein andMark Stewart - Equipe Velo Ecosse/Spokes Racing DNF 9. Stephen Bradury and Jack Kirk - AW Cycles/Agiskoviner CT DNF 10. Ian Cooper and Richard Prince - Planet X - DNS
Hoy admits competition for Olympics is fierce
Sir Chris Hoy has admitted that the selection process for the London Olympic Games will be tough following the change in regulations by the UCI which means only one entry per event will be allowed for every NOC (National Olympic Committee).
During an interview broadcast on ITV4, Hoy was asked by Rob Hayles whether selection would be decided by performances atApril's world championships.
"I think for events like the sprint it will be done on theWorld Championships. The kierin might be a little bit different because it's such an unpredictable event and you can sometimes get freak results you know; you can suffer a big crash. I could win every race all year but crash [in theWorld Championships] but then you would hope you would get the selector's nod. However, you know we've got guys like Matt Crampton and Jason Kenny who are really world standard kierin riders as well, so if they win theWorlds you can't really say you're not riding the Olympics.
"Schoolboy error in sprint semi but made up for it in Keirin, winning in 10.25s. Great atmosphere as always"
Sir Chris Hoy on Twitter
Hoy also paid credit to the development of British Cycling over the last decade.
"I think a lot of people think it's come from Beijing [2008 Olympics] but really it's been coming since the late '90s, once we got the funding in place from the lottery, once we had a plan, once we had some kind of strategy for how we were going to transform Britain from, not even a C grade nation but a D grade nation in terms of track cycling and cycling in general.
"We were very amateur ifyou like and now we're a professional outfit. It's hard work, it's funding, it's the right people in the right places, it's the right support. The young riders now, ifyou're a talented 16 or 17 year-old rider then there are clear pathways to get you from there to being Tour de France yellow jersey winner or Olympic champion on the track. Whatever your goal, there is a pathway you can follow.
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