Sprint cyclist Becky James secured a personal best in the women’s 500m time trial on day one of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, securing seventh place in the process.
James, who was fifth out, impressed with a lifetime best of 35.035 seconds, edging ahead of Russia’s Olga Streltsova who clocked 35.727 seconds.
A few minutes later though, and Britain’s hopes for a time trial gold were dashed as Lisandra Guerra Rodregues from Cuba took the lead with a 34.722 second finish. As more riders took to the track, Britain’s medal chances further faded away, with Hong Kong’s Wai Sz Lee clocking 34.710 seconds followed by Germany’s Miriam Welte crossing the line in 34.496 seconds with three riders still to race.
This is how the competition unfortunately continued, with Sandi Clair from France stealing the lead with a 33.919 second finish. Willy Kanis’ time of 34.657 seconds was just shy of securing her a home medal after Olga Panarina from Belarus managed a surprise time of 33.896 to become the first track world champion of 2011, pushing Clair to silver and Welte to bronze.
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Speaking after the race, 19-year-old James explained how her personal best was a surprise result, given how slow the track was running. She said: “You’re really having to push, but it’s been a good day so far. I just wanted to get a good hit out to see where my form’s at.
“I’m happy I did it and I’ve done a personal best, so that’s great. I wasn’t expecting that with the track running slow.”
Elsewhere at the Championships, Belarus rider Tatsiana Sharakova dominated the women’s points 25km. A solo lap gain mid race greatly assisted the victory and when the final sprint came, Sharakova (30 points) and Czech’s Jarmila Machacova (20 points) were both secure on the top two podium positions, with Italy’s Giorgia Bronzini (14 points) besting her points rivals to take the bronze.
In the men’s events GB settled for double bronze, with Chris Hoy celebrating his 35th birthday by winning his 21st World Championship medal with the sprint team alongside Jason Kenny and Matt Crampton.
A further bronze, this time from the GB pursuit team of Sam Harrison, Steven Burke, Andy Tennant and Peter Kennaugh, meant team GB made it to the podium for the second time.
Day two in Apeldoorn will see the women battle it out in the team pursuit and team sprint whilst the men will compete for the individual pursuit and men’s sprint.
Jessica Whittington, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
