The opening round of the 2007-08 UCI Track World Cup Classics kicked off Down Under on Friday as 12 Americans were in action on the first day of the three-day competition.

Two-time defending world champion Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Ouch Pro Cycling) posted the best result for the U.S. contingent on Friday with a fifth-place effort in the women’s 3-kilometer individual pursuit.  Hammer recorded a time of 3 minutes, 38.680 seconds and failed to advance to the evening session’s medal round. 

After qualifying second with a 3:36.784, Australia’s Katie Mactier beat top-seeded Vilija Sereikaite (LTU) in the head-to-head gold medal final for the victory.  In the bronze medal round, Karin Thurig (SUI) edged Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR) for the final spot on the podium.

In her first-career UCI Track World Cup, Dotsie Bausch (Irvine, Calif./Colavita-Sutter Home-Cooking Light) placed 16th overall with a qualifying time of 3:44.290.

Also competing in his first-ever UCI Track World Cup, 17-year-old Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo./Slipstream-Chipotle) recorded an impressive time of 4:29.118 in the men’s 4-kilometer individual pursuit to finish ninth overall and shave over six seconds off his personal best.  Phinney, the reigning junior time trial world champion and member of USA Cycling’s junior national team, earned an elite national title in the pursuit in his first-ever track race last month with a 4:35.550.

Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo./Slipstream-Chipotle) qualified 27th for the U.S. with a 4:42.071.

With the top-four riders advancing to the medal round, Volodymyr Dyudya (UKR) captured the gold medal with a winning time of 4:25.485 with a win over runner-up Philip Thuaux (AUS) while Alexander Serov (RUS) claimed the bronze medal over Marc Ryan (NZL).

In the women’s 10-kilometer scratch race – a non-Olympic event – Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa./South Bay Wheelmen) finished sixth to give the U.S. its second-best finish on opening day while Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Bay Wheelmen) finished 15th.

Cuba’s Yumari Gonzalez sprinted to the scratch race win over runner-up Annalisa Cucinotta (ITA) and third-place finisher Anastasiay Chulkova (RUS).

In the women’s sprint, Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash./Momentum) qualified eighth with a flying 200-meter time of 11.417 seconds to advance to the 1/8 finals where she won her head-to-head match over Gong Jinje (CHN).  In the ensuing quarterfinals, Reed won the first of three battles against Willy Kanis (NED) but dropped the next two in the best-of-three format to end her hopes of a medal.  In the four-woman race to decide fifth through eighth place, Reed outsprinted Simona Krupeckaite (LTU) and Victoria Pendleton (GBR), but finished behind Clara Sanchez (FRA) to place sixth overall.

Also in the women’s sprint, Liz Reap (Jim Thorpe, Pa./T-Town Express) clocked a qualifying time of 12.002 seconds to finish 29th overall.

After ousting Reed from medal contention, Kanis went on to claim the gold medal over Anna Meares (AUS) while Natalia Tsylinskaya (BEL) won the bronze medal over Guo Shuang (CHN).

With 52 athletes entered in the men’s points race, a top-eight finish in one of three qualifying heats was necessary just to make the finals – a feat that none of the four Americans entered accomplished.  In the first heat, Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo./Cody Racing) placed 11th.  Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa./Toyota-United) and David McCook (Mountain View, Calif./Proman) placed 12th and 13th respectively in the second heat. Kenny Williams (Kenmore, Wash./Cody Racing) was 11th in the third heat. 

In the men’s 30-kilometer points race final, Greg Henderson (NZL) scored 31 points to win the gold medal ahead of Spain’s Toni Tauler Llull (27) and Australia’s Cameron Meyer (24).  

Becky Quinn's fourth-place finish in the women's 20-kilometer points race led all Americans on day two of the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney on Saturday.  Quinn (Quakertown, Pa./South Bay Wheelmen) tallied seven points in the final to finish just off the podium behind winner Giorgia Bronzini (ITA), runner-up Li Yan (CHN) and bronze medalist Jarmilla Machacova (CZE).

After placing fifth in her qualifying heat, Quinn was one of three Americans to advance to the finals, joining Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif./South Bay Wheelmen) and Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Ouch Pro Cycling) who placed third and sixth in their qualifying heats respectively.  In the finals, Quinn scored points in three of the race's eight intermediate sprints but finished just shy of the podium as Bronzini tallied 11 points, Li captured 10 and Machacova claimed nine.  Hammer finished 14th overall with two points, while King placed 22nd after failing to score any points.

Two other Americans also competed in the points race but did not advance to the finals.  Neva Day (Manhattan Beach, Calif./South Bay Wheelmen) finished 17th in her qualifying heat and Kele Murdin (Kenmore, Wash./Proman) finished ninth in hers.

In the men's 15-kilometer scratch race, both Americans entered - Michael Friedman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Slipstream-Chipotle) and Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa./Toyota-United) - advanced to the finals where they were eventually lapped, along with the rest of the 24-man field, by the three medalists.  Lea recorded the best U.S. finish in the finals, placing 10th.  Friedman finished 23rd. The winning move occurred when Roger Kluge (GER), Zach Bell (CAN) and Milan Kadlec (CZE) lapped the field before sprinting to first, second and third place respectively.

Liz Reap (Jim Thorpe, Pa./T-Town Express) was the sole American entered in the women's 500-meter time trial, placing 12th with a time of 35.776 seconds.  Anna Meares (AUS) claimed the gold medal with a winning time of 33.869.  Lisandra Rodriguez (CUB) won the silver medal with a second-best time of 34.058 and Willy Kanis (NED) took home the bronze in 34.141.

The only other American in action on Saturday, Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo./T-Town Express) was eliminated in the first-round repechage of the men's keirin.  After being relegated in his opening round heat, Massie placed fourth in the ensuing repechage in which only the winner advanced to the second round.

In the keirin final, Great Britain's Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar took home gold and silver respectively while Theo Bos (NED) claimed the bronze

Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash./Momentum) collected the first and only medal of the weekend for the United States on Sunday with a silver-medal performance in the women's keirin at the opening round of the UCI Track World Cup series.

Reed won both her first- and second-round heats before lining up in the six-woman final against eventual winner Victoria Pendleton (GBR), bronze medalist Natalia Tsylinskaya (BEL), Clara Sanchez (FRA), Elisa Frisoni (ITA) and Simona Krupeckaite (LTU).

For the reigning Pan American keirin champion, it was the third-consecutive silver medal in the keirin at the Sydney World Cup as Reed also placed second last year to Guo Shuang (CHN) and the during 2005-06 season to Di Mu (CHN).

Reed's second-place effort on Sunday was the highlight of the weekend for the 20-member American contingent as the final day of competition also featured eight other Americans.

Liz Reap (Jim Thorpe, Pa./T-Town Express) was credited with 25th place in the keirin after failing to advance out of the first round.  Reap placed fifth in both her opening round heat and the ensuing repechage, resulting in her elimination from further competition.

Three men's sprinters failed to advance to the first round of the men's sprint after posting flying 200-meter times that didn't crack the top 16.  Adam Duvendeck (Santa Barbara, Calif./Momentum) was the fastest American in qualifying, clocking a time of 10.412 seconds - the 18th fastest overall.  Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif./Cody Racing) qualified 31st with a 10.606 and Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo./T-Town Express) ticked off a 10.716 to qualify 41st.

In the men's sprint, an all-French final between third-seeded Mickael Bourgain and fourth-seeded Kevin Sireau ended with Bourgain taking two straight rides for the gold medal.  In the consolation round, top-seeded Chris Hoy (GBR) added a bronze medal to his keirin gold with a two-ride victory over Gregory Bauge (FRA).

Two American teams were also in action on Sunday as both the U.S. National Team of Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo./Slipstream-Chipotle) and Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa./Toyota-United) and the Slipstream-Chipotle duo of Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo.) and Michael Friedman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) advanced to the finals of the men's 40-kilometer madison.

In the finals, the duo of Friedman and Pearce turned in the better performance of the two U.S. squads, placing 11th overall with six points as one of nine teams that finished two laps off the pace of winners Peter Schep and Jens Mouris of The Netherlands.
 
Lea and Huff did not finish.

Source: www.usacycling.org