Bradley 7th at Paris-Nice Prologue

Laying down a firm show of form was one of Bradley Wiggins best performances as a pro against the watch. It was a tight finish too and Team CSC will have a fight on their hands to keep hold of the leaders jersey, especially with strong showings from Quick-Step and Francaise de Jeux. Looks set to be a cracking ‘Race to the Sun’.

1. Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 6.0754
2. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Liberty Seguros 0.01
3. Brad McGee (Aus) Francaise des Jeux 0.02
4. Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros 0.03
5. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step
6. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
7. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 0.05
8. Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise des Jeux
9. Gert Steegmans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.07
10. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick.Step

Sydney Track World Cup

With most of the big hitting sprinters saving themselves for the Commonwealth Games, it was down to the Endurance trackies to show the way and some very promising rides came through. Rob Hayles was on fire in the individual pursuit, as was Wendy Houvenaghel in the women’s version of the ‘head to head’ Both took Gold medals by a big margin.

The GB Team Pursuit ‘youngsters’ still managed a very creditable Bronze, beating arch rivals Australia in their final. The Cavendish/Thomas pairing did pretty well in the Madison too. Niki Harris continues to impress and secured a podium in the Points race and showed attacking style in the Women’s Scratch race too. Chris Newton finished on the Podium in the Points race also.

Men’s Madison

1. Denmark 14 pts
Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen
2. Italy 11
Fabio Masotti and Marco Villa
3. Great Britain 10
Mark Cavendish and Geraint Thomas

Women’s points race
1. Vera Carrara (Italy) 33 pts
2. Olaberria Dorronsoro L. (Spain) 25
3. Nikki Harris (Great Britain) 24
4. Adrie Visser (Netherlands) 21
5. Lauren Franges (USA) 20

Individual pursuit
Gold ride:
1. Rob Hayles (GBr) Science in Sport 4.24.805 (54.379km/h)
2. Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) – Caught
Bronze ride:
1. Michael Ford (Australia) 4.33.169 (52.714km/h)
2. Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) 4.34.500 (52.459km/h)

Men’s Team 4000m pursuit – Gold final ride

1 Denmark 4.08.140 (58.031km/h)
Casper Jørgensen
Jens-Erik Madsen
Michael Mørkøv
Alex Rasmussen
2. Ukraine 4.08.586 (57.927km/h)
Lyubomyr Polatayko Maksym Polyshchuk Vitaliy Popkov Vitaliy Shchedov
Bronze final ride:
1. Great Britain 4.09.673 (57.675km/h)
Edward Clancy, Ian Stannard, Andrew Tennant and Geraint Thomas
2. Australia 4.13.457 (56.814km/h)
Richard England Michael Ford Grant Irwin Zakkari Dempster

Women’s Individual 3000m pursuit – Gold final ride
1. Wendy Houvenaghel (Great Britain) 3.41.316 (48.799km/h)
2. Li Wang (China) 3.45.524 (47.888km/h)
Bronze final ride:
1. Kristin Armstrong (USA) 3.42.652 (48.506km/h)
2. Elizaveta Bochkaryova (Ukraine) 3.45.705 (47.850km/h)

Men’s points race
1. Niki Terpstra (Netherlands) 34 pts
2. Kazuhiro Mori (Japan) 31
3. Chris Newton (GBr) Recycling.co.uk 28
4. Daniel Kreutzfeld (Denmark) 26
5. Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland) 13
6. Sergey Kolesnikov (Russia) 13
7. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 12

8. Robert Lea (USA) 10
9. Angelo Ciccone (Italy) 8
10. Martin Gilbert (Canada) 8
11. Rob Hayles (GBr) Science in Sport 7

DFL’s first outing

Was the 39th Vlaamse Pijl-Harelbeke a 1.2 ranked race. Looked like a tough one too. Dean Downing managed a good performance which should be good for the team’s morale.

Results
1 Evert Verbist (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 3.32.10
2 Jean Claude Lebeau (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
3 Kevin Neyrinck (Bel) Landbouwkrediet
4 Tom Criel (Bel) Wc Soenens Germond
5 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 0.08
6 Arnoud Van Groen (Ned) Team Lowik Meubelen
7 Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Regiostrom
8 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Wielergroep Beveren
9 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Chocolade Jacques 1.03
10 Kevin Maene (Bel) Lombarden Firestone
11. Dean Downing (GBr) Dfl-Cycling 1.10
28. Yanto Barker (GBr) Dfl-Cycling
54. Russell Downing (GBr) Dfl-Cycling