2016-2017 Track Season

[oldcrank]

The 2016-2017 season has already begun with a number of carnivals
including a few National Championships.

Some changes this year include moving the World Cups from one
per month over four months to two World Cups a week apart in
November (Glasgow 4th to 6th and Apeldoorn 11th to 13th) and
February (Cali 17th to 19th and Los Angeles 25th to 26). Excellent
idea IMO.

Perhaps the biggest news is the trial introduction of the Women's
Madison! It was an exhibition event at the recent UCI World Junior
Track Cycling Championships and is on the schedule for the Glasgow
World Cup. If the Madison is ever to return to the Olympic shedule
there obviously must be both a men's and women's event.

Another change is to the Revolution series with the addition of
World Tour teams and a Champions League starting 18/19 Nov. in Paris.
The Revolution series starts tomorrow with the first round in the UK
Championships featuring Rio Gold Medalists Ed Clancy, Owain Doull,
Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker. It will be streamed live:
http://www.cyclingrevolution.com/ne...series-to-be-streamed-over-facebook-live.html

 

[Shame]

[Excellent
idea IMO./quote]

What? Why?

Having two events so close to one another does several things.
First, riders and teams will pick only one of the two events. This means that only half the stars line up. Would you really want to attend a world cup where only half the top riders show up? A rider can't make much improvement in two weeks esp. when traveling a long distance. A rider who medals in the first event has no reason to exhaust himself with a second event so soon. This allows other riders to 'win' against a weaker field. One who would finish in fourth place could win if the three fastest riders elect to skip the following event.

I would love to see a cup in Agua. for the opportunity to see records broken. But if Vogel, Kenny and Trott qualify for worlds two weeks prior and skip this event, then a Meares or Pervis victory is a bit shallow.

I would rather see five cups a month apart leading up to the Worlds.

 

[oldcrank]

Re:

[Excellent
idea IMO./quote]

What? Why?

Having two events so close to one another does several things.
First, riders and teams will pick only one of the two events. This means that only half the stars line up. Would you really want to attend a world cup where only half the top riders show up? A rider can't make much improvement in two weeks esp. when traveling a long distance. A rider who medals in the first event has no reason to exhaust himself with a second event so soon. This allows other riders to 'win' against a weaker field. One who would finish in fourth place could win if the three fastest riders elect to skip the following event.

I would love to see a cup in Agua. for the opportunity to see records broken. But if Vogel, Kenny and Trott qualify for worlds two weeks prior and skip this event, then a Meares or Pervis victory is a bit shallow.

I would rather see five cups a month apart leading up to the Worlds.

The main reason I think it is a good idea is that
it will drastically cut travel costs because the two
pairs of events are grouped geographically...first
Glasgow and Apeldoorn are both in Europe and
then Cali and Los Angeles are both in the Americas.

Aussies and Kiwis and Asians make one trip to Europe
and one trip to the Americas 3 or 4 months later...i.e.
only two trips and two tapers/"peaks" for four races.
In future years we could possibly see a race in Hong Kong
paired with a race in Japan or China or maybe a pair
of events in Cambridge and Brisbane or Sydney.

I believe it will make for some fantastic racing, and in
some cases it will give riders or teams a second chance
if a mishap or a DQ, etc. occured in the first leg.

And a rider who wins in the first leg would usually want
to take advantage of his/her form to try and win again in
the second and earn points both for the World Cup title and
also for World Championship qualification...not to mention
the mental/psychological edge he/she would gain.

 

[Shame]

Money...that is a good point you make. I guess we will wait and see. As an audience, I don't like having racing in only three months of the year. And coverage of the world cups has been a dismal... last day with highlights thrown in. Go back to full coverage. Please.

 

[oldcrank]

Re:

Money...that is a good point you make. I guess we will wait and see. As an audience, I don't like having racing in only three months of the year. And coverage of the world cups has been a dismal... last day with highlights thrown in. Go back to full coverage. Please.

Yes, my friend, I agree we will just have to wait and see
how this new format works. With the previous formats,
very few of the top riders contested all the World Cups
in any given season, perhaps that may improve with this
type of schedule.

Also, there is a hope the regional championships (PanAm,
European, Asian, Oceania, African) will grow and become
more prestigious with more of the very best riders taking
part and hopefully attracting more interest from the public.

A more "compact" World Cup schedule will allow some riders
freedom to contest more of the long established and iconic
6-day races without missing out on the World Cup events,
and we want to keep dates open for top riders to compete
at local/national events in the many new velodromes around
the world like Rio, Milton, Couva, Brisbane, etc. to help grow
the sport at the grass-roots level.

 

[oldcrank]

More changes in the track cycling world:
The Japanese Keirin Association is allowing foreigners
to race in G3 grade meetings now with the potential
for bigger paydays than the F1 grade meetings they
were previously restricted to. London 2012 medallist
Shane "Perko" Perkins, and Rio 2016 medallists Denis
Dmitriev and Matthijs Buchli are all racing in a G3
meeting this weekend.

 

[oldcrank]

More changes in the track cycling world:
The Japanese Keirin Association is allowing foreigners
to race in G3 grade meetings now with the potential
for bigger paydays than the F1 grade meetings they
were previously restricted to. London 2012 medallist
Shane "Perko" Perkins, and Rio 2016 medallists Denis
Dmitriev and Matthijs Buchli are all racing in a G3
meeting this weekend.

Denis won a minor final, the video of the G3 major
final with Perko #6/green and Matti #8/pink is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piq43x0_HKM

Theo Bos #5/yellow and Francois Pervis #3/red raced
a Keirin Evolution event, i.e. carbon bikes and wheels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_h9Hpdicxg

 

[oldcrank]

The Japanese preparation for Tokyo 2020 includes
providing their very best riders with top-notch
competition. In the past riders like Becky James,
Kaarle McCulloch, Mariam Welte and Paige Paterson
have raced the Girls (that's what they call it!) Keirin.

This year Kristina Vogel, Katy Marchant, Wai Sze Lee
and Monique Sullivan are in Japan. Like the men's
Keirin Evolution events, the women race on carbon
bikes/wheels, not steel frames and 36 spoke wheels.

 

[Craigee]

Who are the clowns who make all the changes to track cycling? Do the leading countries have any input at all?

The new omnium format is a joke. It's now a kiddies carnival event with 4 silly bunch races. Get rid of this useless event and bring back the individual events or at least a couple. My favourite events at the Olympics were the Individual Pursuit and the Kilo TT and I didn't even do cycling as a sport. They make the host country for the Olympics build a new velodrome which costs millions and then they limit the events but all whilst the omnium takes up so much time for one single title. Look at all the swimming titles. Why is track cycling so limited in it's number of titles?

Yeah I know it would only increase Great Britain's medal tally. But Still.

 

[avanti]

Re:

Who are the clowns who make all the changes to track cycling? Do the leading countries have any input at all?
............................................
.

Has the UCI provide the omnium format for the WC and the 2020 Olympic games?

 

[Craigee]

For up coming world cups yes. Not sure if it is finalised for the Olympics. I hope not.

Omnium now 4 bunch races but all shortened and too short for any lapping of the field I would say. Certainly less lapping.

Scratch race now 10km (40 laps),

10km pace race where the leader gets 1 point each lap. So just 1 point on offer each lap.

elimination

Points race 25km (100 laps)

all in one day. Surely this will suit the fast men even without the kilo tt and flying lap but will bring luck into it much more. More crashes.

 

[oldcrank]

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/cycl...ake-some-drastic-changes-to-the-omnium-288748
Shortening the omnium to one day could make way for the madison
on the Olympic program and a sprint/endurance balance with three
events each. Currently only one of the four team pursuit riders gets
a chance at a second medal (the omnium). A new format could allow
one of the team pursuiters to ride the omnium, and another two to
ride the madison. For this to happen, though, the nations must start
now to encourage women's endurance riders to race madisons, as the
madison will only return to the Olympics if there is a strong women's
field that is competent and competitive in the discipline.

 

[Craigee]

with the time the omnium takes up why not get rid of it and have 4 endurance events for men and women? Also bring back the TT for the sprinters and make it 4 for them too. Who was the one on the Olympics committee who got hell bent on having the omnium?

As I say they make the host city build a new velodrome (at least 30 million) then limit the events. Just no common sense. Why don't GB and the other leading countries try and pressure them into going back to more events?

 

[oldcrank]

Re:

.....As I say they make the host city build a new velodrome .....

Nobody is making Tokyo build a new velodrome.
The existing Izu Velodrome about 120km. south
of Tokyo will be used for the 2020 track events.

 

[oldcrank]

Lots of track cycling happening including the second event
of the Revolution UK Championships starting in a few hours
in Glasgow, and the Pan-American contintental champs on
at altitude in Aguascalientes.

Big news from the Commonwealth Games Federation general
assembly: the 2018 track cycling program has been expanded
to achieve gender equality. There will now be four endurance
and four sprint events for both men and women:
individual pursuit, team pursuit, point score, scratch race
and match sprint, team sprint, keirin, time-trial.

 

[Craigee]

Sorry to come across as grumpy Oldcrank but they made Rio build a velodrome only to limit the events and how is the omnium which is now a series of 4 bunch races (now a kiddies carnival) finding out who the best all round track rider is? They can't find out the best all rounder in the world without time trials which is a big part of track.

South Africa have said they will probably not have track cycling at their Comm Games in 2022 as they can't afford a new indoor velodrome. Why did they get the Comm Games if they can't host a traditional major sport? Then there's all the ill-informed changes just been made to most track events as well. It's run so amateurish it's hard to believe. Isn't Cookson pushing for team sprint and team pursuit to have men and women in the same mixed teams?

I have little interest in the revolution series, being on the other side of the world and not a Brit and I am against altitude events. Pervis got nowhere near his 9.3 in Rio. I think there should be sea level records and altitude records with obviously a certain divide or cut off between them. Something like below and above 200 feet.

Again I apologise for being grumpy. Cheers

 

[oldcrank]

Jason Niblett has left the South Australian Sports Institute,
and Benoit Vetu has left the Chinese Cycling Federation to
move to Japan and take up coaching positions as Japan is
taking serious steps to improve their medal chances in 2020.

Jason is not the first Australian to coach in Japan. The late
William "Bill" Long OAM, who passed away 10 years ago this
month at age 82, went to Japan in 1973 and coached the
first Japanese sprinters to achieve international success,
including Ryoji Abe, Yoshi Sugata and Koichi Nakano.

And from the UCI meetings:
The 2020 Elite Track Cyling World Championships are to be
held in Berlin and after this year's successful World Juniors
in Aigle, the Juniors will be in Aigle again in 2018 and 2020.

 

[oldcrank]

Numerous changes to the track rules and regulations
including women's madison added to World Champs,
and we're going back to double points for the final
sprint in both the madison and the points race!
http://www.uci.ch/pressreleases/uci...es-the-regulations-three-cycling-disciplines/
http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/...sAmendmentswitheffecton14.10.2016_English.pdf

 

[oldcrank]

So now everyone who was at this season's first
Revolution in Manchester on 17/Sept. and saw
Amalie Dideriksen win the points and place 2nd
in the scratch will be claiming they picked her
to win the World Road Race because of the
form she showed on the boards that night.

 

[oldcrank]

A fair bit of track omnium experience on the Road Race podiums in Doha.
ELITE MEN: Cav in 2nd of course also 2nd in the omnium at Rio.
ELITE WOMEN: Winner Diderikson was 4th in the omnium at Rio,
and was 2nd in the 2015 Euro Champs omnium to Laura Trott.
Kirsten Wild, second in Doha, has won Euro and World omnium
medals and was 6th in both London 2012 and Rio 2016 omniums.
U23 MEN: Pascal Ackermann, 2nd in Doha, was 2012 European
Junior omnium champ. He also finshed 4th in the omnium at the
2011 World Juniors as well as winning Gold in the Team Sprint.
JUNIOR WOMEN: Doha winner Elisa Balsamo also won omnium and
team pursuit golds at the 2016 World Juniors in Aigle and at the
2016 Euro Juniors in Montichiari. What a year!!
JUNIOR MEN: Not aware of any omnium medals by the Doha top
three, but third place Reto Muller did win Madison gold in Aigle.

 

[Craigee]

I thought Pascal Ackermann rang a bell. My son was a medallist ahead of him in the 2011 junior omnium.

 

[oldcrank]

Re:

I thought Pascal Ackermann rang a bell. My son was a medallist ahead of him in the 2011 junior omnium.

Okay, now I truly understand your opposition to the omnium changes.
Hopefully, your lad will come back with a vengeance as did Sir Chris
Hoy after the kilo tt was removed from the Olympic program. If the
changes to the omnium do result in the Madison returning to the
Olympics, well, your son has had success in that event too, so
he could have three Olympic medals to aim for in 2020.

 

[oldcrank]

Good news for track cyclists and track cyling fans: 6-Day Series announcement: http://www.sixday.com/about/series/

 

[Craigee]

Re: Re:

I thought Pascal Ackermann rang a bell. My son was a medallist ahead of him in the 2011 junior omnium.

Okay, now I truly understand your opposition to the omnium changes.
Hopefully, your lad will come back with a vengeance as did Sir Chris
Hoy after the kilo tt was removed from the Olympic program. If the
changes to the omnium do result in the Madison returning to the
Olympics, well, your son has had success in that event too, so
he could have three Olympic medals to aim for in 2020.

Is there anything you don't know about track cycling Oldcrank? I thought that would stump you but no you are good.

I think the new format suits my lad anyway with them shortening the bunch races so much. Points race from 160 to 100 laps. Scratch from 60 to 40 laps and wouldn't the 40 laps point a lap race suit the fast guys? He's done 8 races in a day at carnivals with his last ride being as good as the first so 4 races in a day won't hurt him. I would still prefer to see the omnium gone and add more events for the sake of track cycling. How can they call the winner in the new format the best all round track rider when they have no time trials? It's pathetic.

 

[oldcrank]

The European Championships will be a good chance to observe all the rule changes and
new events and how the teams, riders and officials have adapted on pretty short notice.
http://www.uec.ch/en/home-2/item/54...t-spectacle-in-saint-quentin-en-yvelines.html