May 27th, 2004 – In the first two days of competition, the French have claimed the spotlight at the Track World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Of the five events they entered, they have collected three gold medals — and they hope to claim more.

On the first night of racing, a sold-out crowd witnessed both speed and endurance. The two highlighted events were the men’s 40K points race and the men’s team sprint. Franck Perque of France showed he was the best man to win the points race after lapping the field with four others half-way through the race, gaining enough sprint points and then keeping a close watch on his adversaries. The Olympic Sprint Team from France consisting of Mickael Bourgain, Laurent Gane and Arnaud Tournant also showed they were the best team of the night storming around the track in a time of 44.394 seconds. It was France’s sixth World title in this event since 1995.

The golden streak continued for France the following night when Clara Sanchez of France took charge in the Women’s Keirin. Sanchez knew exactly what she needed to do. She battled for the number one position behind the derny and that’s where she stayed for the whole race – she owned the race from the start!

On the same evening, an upset occurred in both the Men’s Kilometer and Men’s Individual Pursuit event leaving Australians off the podium. Chris Hoy of Great Britain took gold in the Men’s Kilometer and is hoping to break 1:01 in Athens. Silver medalist Arnaud Tournant of France, despite falling off the rollers during warmup, was the only other athlete to clock under 1:02. In the Men’s Individual Pursuit it was Sergi Escobar Roure from Spain who clocked the fastest qualifying time and then in orderly fashion proceeded to win every other pursuit-off. Eventually he had a gold medal hanging around his neck, and a golden smile.

Tomorrow Canadian athletes take to the track for the first time. Martin Gilbert of Quebec will compete in the Men’s Scratch Race and Lori-Ann Muenzer will begin with the flying 200meter qualifying event, which will determine whether she makes it through to the first round of sprints.

Go Canada!

Results

Men’s Kilometer Final

1 Chris Hoy (Great Britain), 1.01.599 (58.442km/h)

2 Arnaud Tournant (France), 1.01.957 (58.104km/h)

3 Theo Bos (Netherlands), 1.02.055 (58.013km/h)

Men’s Pursuit Final

1 Sergi Escobar Roure (Spain), 4.19.382 (55.517km/h)

2 Robert Hayles (Great Britain), 4.20.337 (55.313km/h)

3 Robert Bartko (Germany), 4.20.928 (55.188km/h)

4 Luke Roberts (Australia), 4.20.947 (55.184km/h)

Men’s Points Race Final

1 Franck Perque (France), 35 pts

2 Milton Wynants (Uruguay), 31 pts

3 Juan Esteban Curuchet (Argentina), 28 pts

Women’s Keirin Final

1 Clara Sanchez (France)

2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)

3 Jennie Reed (USA)

Men’s Olympic Team Sprint

1 France 44.394 (60.819km/h) – Mickael Bourgain, Laurent Gane, Arnaud Tournant

2 Spain 44.824 (60.235km/h) – Jose Antonio Escuredo Raimondez, Salvador Melia, Jose Antonio Villanueva Trinidad

3 Great Britain 44.620 (60.510km/h) – Craig Mclean, Chris Hoy, Jamie Staff