Driving into Apeldoorn (population
157,057 and twinned with Burlington,
Ontario) it looks pretty much like anywhere else in the province of Gelderland until
you pass the gigantic bicycle on the main road and then another on
entering Omnisport. The inhabitants of the Netherlands are the
tallest in the world, but still...
Omnisport Apeldoorn, opened in 2008, is
an impressive facility with a hall seating 2000 for volleyball and a
250 m velodrome seating 5000, the latter being the venue for the 2011
UCI World Track Racing Championships as well as the European
Championships that year. It also offers an ice-skating rink for
winter plus the usual concessions.
The European Elite Track Championships
are a surprisingly recent event, first held in 2010. Previously the
European competition was only for junior and U-23 but the change was
made after a review of Olympic qualification brought about a
wholesale structural reorganization. Regulated by the European
Cycling Union the program includes all the 2012 Olympic track events
as well points races for men and women as the big finale: a men's
madison because, well, people like it.
Great Britain leads the cumulative
medal standings since 2010 with 24, including 13 gold, while Germany
is close behind with 23 (10 gold) and tied with Russia, which also
has won 23 but only seven gold. At the races in Apeldoorn this year
24 nations were represented and covering most of the world powers in
track racing: Britain, Germany, Russia, France, Ukraine and of course
the Netherlands. At the other end of the spectrum, Slovakia sent a
single rider while the Hungarians numbered two. Gold medallists from
the 2013 Worlds in Minsk were plentiful and in many respects the
European Championships are almost another Worlds but without the
United States, China, Australia and some individual non-European
standout riders.
After a training day the Championships
opened on October 18 with the Men's and Women's Team Pursuit and Team
Sprint races, along with the Points Race. The British men (Doull,
Burke, Clancy Tennant) took gold in the pursuit ahead of Russia and
the Netherlands, while the women's race saw Britain (Trott, King,
Barker, Archibald) also win, with Poland and Russia next. In the
Team Sprints, the German men (Enders, Förstemann,
Levy) came first ahead of France and Russia while the World Champion
German women were not able to hold off the Russian pair (Brejniva,
Stretsova) but did come ahead of the British. Points winners were
Elia Viviani of Italy on the men's side and Kirsten Wild of the
Netherlands for the women. Already on the first day the home nation
had improved its medal standing with a gold and a bronze compared to
Minsk, where the Dutch finished with a single disappointing bronze.
Day 2 of competition saw lots of Sprint
qualifying events as well as the start of the Omnium, with flying
laps, points race and elimination race. There was a lot of very
exciting racing although the stands were fairly empty for most of
this Saturday afternoon and evening. At the end of the day medals
were presented for the Men's and Women's Sprints. The Germans had
made a very strong showing but on the men's side some tactical
mistakes were made and relegations came near the end, with World
Champion Stefan Bötticher
finishing out of the medals and Robert Förstemann,
with the most impressive thighs in cycling, also being relegated so
that he took the silver medal after Russia's Denis Dmitriev, who had
finished second in Minsk.
Kristina Vogel prepares to overtake a Russian competitor in the sprint |
Stefan Bötticher trackstands with a Spanish rival |
Robert Förstemann warming up |
On the women's side there was no doubt
at all who was the fastest rider as Germany's Kristina Vogel, who won
silver in Minsk in this discipline, easily outrode her rivals to win
gold but a brave effort was made by Elis Ligtlee as she earned the
third medal of the competition for the Dutch with silver (and having
a wildly enthusiastic crowd behind her) and Jessica Varnish took the
bronze for the UK.
Kristina Vogel leading Elis Ligtlee in the sprint final |
Kristina Vogel, the newly-jerseyed European Sprint Queen |
On the final day of the Championships
the stands filled up with spectators and there was a special
exhibition organized by classic bicycle enthusiast Harrie Hofstede of
vintage track racing bicycles. After he spread the word collectors
brought in nearly 30 old steel bikes, including a very early (1903)
stayer bike, a gorgeous 1934 Ernie Russ, a shaft drive bicycle and a
wonderful Raleigh. The crowds that gathered around were very
enthusiastic and peppered owners with questions and, in some cases,
reminiscences of their own track days.
My Bauer Super Sport was not out of place |
The glorious shaft drive |
The racing on the track continued with
more Omnium events (individual pursuit, scratch and individual time
trials) and qualification and finals for the keirin and madison.
Final results in the Men's Omnium saw Viktor Manakov take gold for
Russia, followed by Tim Veldt for the home nation and Ireland's
Martyn Irvine (World Champion in the Scratch Race) came in third.
Laura Trott (silver medallist in Minsk) of Britain was the best
woman, followed by Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands and Jolien D'Hoore
of Belgium on the podium. There was also Dutch success in the keirin
as the Women's Sprint results were reversed with Elis Ligtlee getting
gold ahead of Kristina Vogel, followed by Virginie Cueff riding for
France. Germany's medal count continued as Maximilian Levy won gold
in the keirin with a powerful performance ahead of the UK's Jason
Kenny (reversing their standings at the World's in Minsk) and
France's François Pervis.
Swiss rider setting off on his time trial during the Omnium |
British rider after completing his Omnium pursuit ride and barely able to stay upright from fatigue |
Starting the women's keirin |
Women's keirin racers setting off with the derny pacemaker |
The last event was the extraordinary
madison race, a veritable circus of colour and speed with 32 riders,
paired in 16 teams, slung each other around the track 200 times in a
50 km event. In the centre of the velodrome on a raised platform was
a man with evening wear, including a top hat, who job was to point at
the leading cyclist since it was easy to get confused as the racers
attempted to lap the field and get sprint points. In the end the
Spanish duo of Juane and Barcelo were relegated for unsportsmanlike
conduct in the 7th sprint (the madison is not a race for
the faint-hearted) and Italy took gold ahead of them with Viviani and
Bertazzo triumphant. Belgium's De Ketele and Van Hoecke won bronze.
Interestingly, in this non-Olympic discipline the other track powers
(UK, Germany, Netherlands) were pretty much at the bottom of the
standings.
At the end of the competition Germany
took three gold and three silver medals, while Great Britain (the
dominant force in track racing for the last several years) also had
an excellent time with three gold, two silver and three bronze.
Russia was third with six but the home town crowd must have been
delighted the Dutch haul of two gold, three silver and one bronze.
Clearly it pays to ride those big bicycles...
Maximilian Levy (centre) of Germany celebrates his keirin victory |
In November many of the same racers
assembled in Manchester for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup and there
were many repeat winners, including Kristina Vogel (gold in keirin,
sprint and team sprint), Laura Trott (Omnium), the British men's
pursuit team and the German men's sprint team. The art and science
of track racing at the elite level is not everywhere to be seen but
don't pass up the chance to see it if you can. The racing is
exciting and even a bit dizzying at time but it is all out in front
of you. The bikes with no brakes and single gears are stripped down
and the competition is just as direct.
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