Australia finishes third in UCI Track World Cup series



Australia has finished third in the overall 2014/15 UCI Track World Cup Series rankings on 3398.5 points, while the Jayco-AIS trade team was 18th on 1232.5 points. Germany were crowned the overall Series winnerson 4037.5 points.

The Series featured over 200 of world's best track cyclists competing across three rounds for points towards World Championships and Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification.

In November's opening round in Guadalajara, Mexico, Australia finished on top of the medal table with three gold, two silver and a bronze and lead the overall World Cup Nations ranking.

In round two in London in December, Australia added another three silver medals, while in the Class 1 UCI points race Amy Cure (TAS) claimed gold.

This weekend, Australia finished second in the final round of the season in Cali, Colombia, winning two gold in the women's and men's team pursuit and one silver from Shane Perkins in the keirin.

Australia best will now switch focus to the Subaru 2015 Track National Championships in Melbourne January 28-31, before the Australian team is announced for the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Paris, France in February.

Cali Track World Cup - Final Day Recap

World Cup debutants Patrick Constable (SA) finished fifth in the men's sprint while Caitlin Ward (VIC) claimed fifth in the women's keirin.

Shane Perkins (VIC) finished seventh in the sprint while in the omnium, Sam Welsford (WA) was 13th and Elissa Wundersitz 21st in the men's and women's events respectively.

Women's Keirin

Caitlin Ward (VIC) proved to be the quickest in her first round keirin heat taking a win to secure a spot in the second round.

In the second round, Ward jumped to the front and held on against a number of fast finishing riders to take third and move in to the final.

In the final, Ward was immediately on the wheel of the derny as the gun fired. Well positioned heading towards the start of the final lap, some movement in the field unfortunately saw Ward crash, and miss the opportunity to fight for a medal.  She finished fifth.

Shuang Guo of Max Success Pro Cycling crossed the line first before being relegated for entering the sprinters lane with a rider already there. Lin Junhong of China took gold, Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands) and Melissa Erickson (United States) rounded out the podium.

Men's Sprint

Shane Perkins was the top Australian qualifier with a time of 10.085secs to qualify tenth.

Patrick Constable finished sixth spots back with a time of 10.130, after briefly holding the second fastest time. Emerson Harwood (SA) finished 36th with a time of 10.433secs.

Constable advanced over Lewis Oliva (Great Britain) and Perkins over Chao Xu (China) in the 1/16 finals.

A photo finish was required in the 1/8 final between Anderson Parra (Colombia) and Constable, with Parra just taking it. Perkins was edged by Denis Dmitriev (Rusvelo) in his heat.

In the repechage Constable and Perkins both emerged victorious earning a spot in the quarter finals.

In the quarterfinals Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) defeated Perkins and Fabian Puerta (Colombia) proved to strong for Constable. Constable made a daring attack with just over a lap to go in the 5-8 final and held off to take the win and finish fifth. Shane Perkins claimed seventh.

Dmitriev claimed gold, Hoogland silver and Puerta bronze.

Men's Omnium

Continuing his consistent performances, Welsford finished the time trial in 18th with 1min 5.304secs. As the third rider to start Welsford set the fastest time of 13.287 in the flying lap. With all riders having completed their lap Welsford had the fourth fastest time of 13.287secs.

In the points race, Welsford played a tactical game waiting for the right moment before joining a group and taking a lap with six others.

The second half of the race was constant attacking by groups and solo efforts. With fewer than 40 laps remaining, Welsford was again off the front searching for a lap. In the closing stages Welsford was part of a 14-rider group to take a lap.

Welsford finished his first World Cup omnium in 13th position.

Gold went to German Maximilian Beyer, silver Jasper De Buyst (Belgium) and Gael Suter (Switzerland) rounded out the podium.

Women's Omnium

After a busy two days winning gold in the team pursuit, Elissa Wundersitz posted her best result of the omnium taking 13th in the time trial in 37.237secs. Before following up with 15th in the flying lap with a time of 15.005secs.

An aggressive points race saw Wundersitz attempt several attacks, however the field was not willing to allow her much room. Wundersitz finished in 21st.

Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands took gold, silver Leire Olaberria (Spain) and bronze Anna Knauer (Germany).

 

Australian Team

Endurance Men

  • Joshua HARRISON (SA)
  • Scott LAW (NSW)
  • Jackson LAW (NSW)
  • Tirian McMANUS (NSW)
  • Sam WELSFORD (WA)

Endurance Women

  • Alexandra MANLY (SA)
  • Lauren PERRY (TAS)
  • Macey STEWART (TAS)
  • Elissa WUNDERSITZ (WA)

Sprint Men

  • Patrick CONSTABLE (SA)
  • Emerson HARWOOD (SA)
  • Shane PERKINS (VIC) JAYCO-AIS

Sprint Women

  • Rikki BELDER (SA)
  • Caitlin WARD (VIC)

About the Track World Cup Series

The 2014/15 UCI Track World Cup series features over 200 of world's best track cyclists competing across three rounds for points towards World Championships and Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification.

Guadalajara (Mexico) will host the first round of the Series in November, followed by London from 5-7 December, with the third and final round to be held in Cali (Colombia) from January 17-18. 

The 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be held in Paris, France in February.

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