Location: Manchester Velodrome, Manchester
Event: 6-12 October 2013
Report: Larry Hickmott
The seventh and final day of racing in the 2013 UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships saw Great Britain comfortably finish top of the medal table with a total of 29 golds to USA's 17, wrapping up an exciting week of racing on the Manchester boards.
Above: The team pursuit podium.
Men's Team Pursuit
The last session at the Manchester track saw two men’s team pursuit finals with the first one for the bronze medal, a real corker of a battle between a team from Canada and Bush Healthcare (Britain). The Canadians went down to three men early on in the race but that didn’t prevent them fighting tooth and nail with the British foursome.
The final few laps were scrappy from both teams as the pace of the race saw gaps opening up between riders and the team that coped best was Canada who finished less than a second ahead of the British foursome. In the final for the gold, four riders from Argentina were in storming form recording a time of 3.20 for the 3,000 metres, over two seconds faster than the determined, but slower squad from the US 'Metal Heads' squad.
Men's 65-69 Points Race
Eventual winner Graham Truelove of Great Britain was seemingly the strongest rider in this race, spending a lot of time on or off the front but the points score sheet tells a different tale with only one point between Truelove and the silver medallist Michael Allen.
Truelove got off to a great start winning the first sprint and finishing third in the next two but Allen's challenge started with the third sprint where he scored maximum points and a win in the final one was all he needed to steal the title off Truelove but Mark Rodamaker of the USA put a spanner in the works by winning that final rush to the line ahead of Allen in second.
The sprint win by Rodamaker though was not enough to get him on to the podium and instead it was the battle scarred Steffan Munch Hansen of Denmark who finished third after two second places in sprints.
Men's 60-64 Points Race
Agressive riders from David Gomer and Malcolm Clasohm gave Australian a 1-2 finish in this race which saw no riders managing to gain laps. Instead, small groups were going off the front and giving the riders in the breaks the opportunity to pick up valuable points in a race where the top seven riders all got on the score sheet.
Gomer was the rider with the most left in his legs after a long championship week by finishing in the points in every sprint but he so nearly came unstuck. Leading with one sprint to go, his compatriot also had eyes on the rainbow stripes after winning the third sprint giving him five points to Gomer's eight.
It was the final sprint that was going to count and Clasohm went on the move. He got clear and stayed away all the way to the final crossing of the finish line taking the five points to give him 10. Behind, Gomer had to dig very deep indeed after a hard race to claw his way past riders one by one on that final lap to finish second and get the points needed to stay on top. Britain's Andrew Donaldson was third.
Men's 70+ Points Race
A rider whose reports of his races appear regularly on the LVRC website in Britain, Derrick Woodings, got his just reward for a very attacking race by winning the 70+ event. Going clear after the first sprint, Woodings time trialled his way to a points tally that no-one could match, getting maximum points in the final three sprints. Second overall was the ever fast Victor Copeland of the USA with Alan Whitworth (Gbr) third.
Brian Cossavella Memorial 10 Mile Scratch Race
Not content with a rainbow jersey already during the week as well as a medal in the sprint competition, John McClelland was the fastest in the dash to the line to win the Brian Cossavella Memorial 10 Mile Scratch Race.
Following the race McClelland said there were several times he seriously considered retiring, with the brutal pace causing splits all over the place. However McClelland persevered and in the end timed his run to perfection.
Not as dominant as he was in his title race over the closing few laps, the British rider came from five or six back in the last few laps before going to the front the long way round on the home straight with the bell ringing and then winning the sprint by a clear half a bike length.
Women's Team Pursuit
Two teams lined up for this competition and there were two races to see who got what colour medals. After the qualifying races, it was easy to see the Brits were better equipped for the 2000 metre test.
Up against a team of three Aussies with the aptly titled team, Not Pursuiters, the GB three some stormed round the track to win the gold in the final, catching the Aussies in the process.
Final medal table
1. GREAT BRITAIN 29 Gold
2. UNITED STATES 17
3. AUSTRALIA 11
4. 4 ARG - ARGENTINA 3
5. 5 NZL - NEW ZEALAND 2
6. 6 CAN - CANADA 2
7. 7 FIN - FINLAND 2
8. 8 LAT - LATVIA 2
9. 9 FRA - FRANCE 1
10. ITALY 1
11. DENMARK 1
12. GERMANY 1
