Bordeaux, France (April 16, 2006)—The United States Cycling Team concluded the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships on Sunday with two near-podium performances. Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa./Team Spike) placed fourth in the women’s 10-kilometer scratch race and Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash./Team Spike) placed fourth in the women’s keirin.



After a strong performance in the sprint and two solid rides in the first heat and semifinals of the keirin, Reed looked to be on pace to secure her second world championship keirin medal in three years. However, a hotly contested final left her in fourth place, just out of the medals.


To solidify a spot in the finals, Reed placed second in her two qualifying heats, first to Di Mu, then to Shuang Guo, both of China. The six-woman finals was without a clear-cut favorite after sprint and 500-meter time trial world champion Natalia


Tsylinskaya of Belarus was eliminated in a photo finish a round earlier.


Joining Reed and the Chinese duo in the finals were defending champion Clara Sanchez of France, Maria Garcia of Colombia and Christin Muche of Germany.


After drawing the pole position, Reed led the pack of six with one lap remaining, but a surge from the riders behind led to a subsequent disqualification for Mu followed by a crash for Garcia. Caught up in the aftermath, Reed had to settle for fourth place.


“I really don’t know what happened,” said Reed afterwards. “I have absolutely no idea. I’m trying to figure it out.”



After dispatching some top sprinters in the sprint event earlier in the week, Reed was optimistic about her chances in the keirin, the stronger of her two events.



“I had a good sprint. I beat some pretty fast girls. Usually when I have a good sprint, that means I’ll have a great keirin.”


Muche took the world title ahead of Sanchez, while Guo won the bronze.


Earlier in the day in the women’s scratch race, Quinn placed fourth, narrowly missing the chance to give the U.S. Cycling Team its second medal of the week.


Two-thirds of the way through the 40-lap race, Gina Grain of Canada and 2004 Olympic silver medalist Maria Calle Williams of Colombia escaped from the pack and lapped the field, turning the final sprint into a dash for bronze.


In good position for the final sprint, Quinn was edged only by Olga Slyusareva of Russia, but with a pair of riders already a lap up on the peloton, Quinn had to settle for fourth overall.


After the top-two finishers initiated their break, the pack closed the gap slightly, but an ultimately disorganized chase effort allowed the break to succeed


“Everybody has their agenda, and with two riders off the front like that with that many laps to go, the idea is just to keep it rolling and eventually catch,” Quinn said after the race, “but nobody wants to sacrifice because everybody wants to win. Keeping the field rolling is one thing, but everybody was expecting everyone else to do the work. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”


With only one spot available on the podium in the closing kilometers, Quinn positioned herself for a shot at the bronze medal, but fell just short.


“With two laps to go I was a little out of position, but I knew what I needed to do and where I wanted to be. Unfortunately it was for a field sprint and not for a spot on the podium.


In the final sprint, Williams took home the rainbow jersey ahead of Grain.


In the men’s madison, the United States didn’t qualify a start position through world cup competition, but after two countries failed to field a team for the world championships, the U.S. put forth a last-minute squad consisting of Michael Friedman (Boulder, Colo./TIAA-CREF) and Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo./TIAA-CREF).


Together, competing in their first world championships, the pair placed 11th, scoring five points, but down two laps from the winning team of Joan Llaneras and Isaac Galvez of Spain.


The U.S. Cycling Team concludes the world championships having won its first world title in 10 years. On the opening day of competition, Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Southbay Wheelmen) captured the gold medal in the women’s 3000-meter individual pursuit to become the first U.S. elite world champion on the track since Marty Nothstein won a keirin gold medal in 1996. She was also the first American woman to win a world title since 1995 when Rebecca Twigg won gold, also in the individual pursuit.


This Article Published 2006-04-16 11:26:43 For more information contact: alee@usacycling.org