March 25, 2004 (Carson, Calif.) – Last night in Carson, California at the 2005 UCI World Track Championships Canadian track athletes put in stellar performances and went where they haven’t gone before. Olympic Champion Lori-Anne Muenzer finished 7th in the 500 meter event with a time of 35.217 seconds. Muenzer holds the Canadian Record at 34.861 seconds, which she posted at the 2003 Track World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. Muenzer is 38 years of age and keeps pushing herself towards excellence.

“My favourite place to go is where I’ve never been before.” Anonymous

This quote found on Muezer’s website is fitting for both her and Canada’s Olympic Sprint Team who have been reaching new heights all year. The team consisting of Cam McKinnon of Alberta, Yannik Morin of Quebec and Travis Smith of Alberta finished 10th with a time of 46.860 seconds. They have only been training together for a very short period of time but they improve every time they step up to race. In December at the 2nd 2005 World Cup, also in Carson, California, they posted a time of 48.069 seconds. Three months later, in Sydney Australia at the 3rd World Cup, they placed 6th with a time of 47.85 seconds. Two seconds is a huge leap to make in one year.

Day 1 Results

Men team sprint

1. Great Britain 17.779 (2) 30.870 (2) 44.379
Chris Hoy
Jason Queally
Jamie Staff
2. Netherlands 17.708 (1) 30.854 (1) 44.713
Theo Bos
Teun Mulder
Tim Veldt
3. Germany 17.872 (2) 31.005 (2) 44.790
Matthias John
Stefan Nimke
René Wolff
4. France 17.670 (1) 30.948 (1) 44.835
Mickaël Bourgain
Grégory Bauge
Arnaud Tournant
5. Poland 17.960 (5) 31.496 (5) 45.460
Rafal Furman
Lukasz Kwiatkowski
Damian Zielinski
6. Japan 18.354 (6) 31.945 (6) 46.389
Kazuya Narita
Yusho Oikawa
Kazunari Watanabe
7. Greece 18.386 (7) 32.234 (7) 46.536
Kleanthis Bargkas
Athanasios Mantzouranis
Panagiotis Voukelatos
8. Czech Republic 18.887 (11) 32.720 (11) 46.597
Pavel Buran
Alois Kankovsky
Ivan Vrba
9. Russia 18.824 (10) 32.610 (10) 46.752
Vladimir Kiriltsev
Dmitry Leopold
Sergey Ruban
10. Canada 18.669 (8) 32.584 (9) 46.860
Cam Mackinnon
Yannik Morin
Travis Smith
11. Ukraine 18.801 (9) 32.546 (8) 46.861
Vitaliy Kulachkovskiy
Maksym Lopatyuk
Andrei Vynokurov

Men points race
1. Volodymyr Rybin (Ukraine) 38 pts
2. Ioannis Tamouridis (Greece) 36
3. Juan Llaneras Rossello (Spain) 34
4. Christopher Newton (Great Britain) 32
5. Guido Fulst (Germany) 31
6. Gregory Henderson (New Zealand) 31
7. Sean Finning (Australia) 31
8. Alexander Aeschbach (Switzerland) 25
9. Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland) 23
10. Yauheni Sobal (Bielorussia) 20
11. Peter Schep (Netherlands) 17
12. Juan Esteban Curuchet (Argentina) 12
13. Colby Pearce (USA) 8
14. Wouter Van Mechelen (Belgium) 8
15. Petr Lazar (Czech Republic) 5
16. Angelo Ciccone (Italy) 5
17. Kam-Po Wong (Hong-Kong) 5
18. Mikhail Ignatiev (Russia) 5
19. Ilya Chernyshov (Kazakhstan) 3
20. Jozef Zabka (Slovakia)
DNF Kei Uchida (Japan)
DBF Martin Gilbert (Canada)

Women 500m time trial
1. Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 19.453 (2) 34.738
2. Anna Meares (Australia) 19.484 (3) 34.752
3. Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 19.703 (4) 34.928
4. Willy Kanis (Netherlands) 19.233 (1) 35.056
5. Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 19.815 (5) 35.088
6. Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 19.954 (8) 35.109
7. Lori-Ann Muenzer (Canada) 19.824 (6) 35.217
8. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 19.941 (7) 35.376
9. Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 20.085 (11) 35.395
10. Nivert Céline (France) 19.996 (9) 35.628
11. Clara Sanchez (France) 20.186 (15) 35.730
12. Tian Fang (China) 20.183 (14) 35.974
13. Rebecca Conzelman (USA) 20.057 (10) 36.074
14. Susann Panzer (Germany) 20.129 (12) 36.122
15. Nancy Contreras (Mexico) 20.159 (13) 36.343
16. Magdalena Sara (Poland) 20.727 (16) 36.983
17. Alena Prudnikova (Russia) 20.908 (17) 37.497
DNS Christin Muche (Germany)

March 25, 2005 (Carson, Calif.) -The 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships at the ADT Event Center in Carson, California, opened with a packed house and the crowning of three world champions. The evening’s events were highlighted by the win of young Volodymyr Rybin (UKR) in the men’s 40km points race, the return of Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR) to the top podium position in the women’s 500 meter time trial, and a British victory in the men’s team sprint.

The men’s 40km (160 laps) points race final got off to a slow start, but it didn’t take long for the riders to set sail. Less than 40 laps into the race, four riders were able to get away from the pack and lap the field giving each of them a 20-point bonus. Riders in the breakaway included Guido Fulst (GER), Angelo Ciccone (ITA), Christopher Newton (GBR), and Rybin. Then in another breakaway, three more riders including Alexander Aeschbach (SUI), Yauheni Sobal (BLR), and Rafal Ratajczyk (POL) gained the important lap giving each of them a 20-point boost. With 40 laps remaining it was virtual unknown Rybin in the lead. Then two more riders, including 2000 Olympic points race gold medalist Joan Llaneras (ESP), gained the all-important lap and points.

Coming down to the final laps Rybin began to kick, taking second in three straight sprints and finally taking second in the final sprint securing his lead and first-ever world title. The fast-paced event benefited the top-three, especially silver medalist Loannis Tamouridis (GRE) who needed a brisk pace not being a pure sprinter. In the end it was Rybin winning the world championship with Tamouridis taking second and Llaneras third.

“I’m very happy, but very tired. To be honest I did not expect it. There was very strong competition and I’m very surprised,” said world champion Rybin.

The first women’s event of the world championships, the 500m TT, saw Tsylinskaya win her third world championship in the event in four years. The penultimate rider off the line, the young sprinter from Belarus lit up the track with a blistering time of 34.738. Silver medalist and defending champion Anna Meares (AUS), was pleased with her finish and time (34.752) having not been specifically training for the event. Meares focus shifted over the winter to other sprint based events.

“I’m really excited that I did so well, I haven’t been training for this event. I knew there would be expectations after the Olympics and my world record. We almost flicked it, but then we figured we’d give it a shot,” said Meares.

Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED) continued the strong youth movement in the sport taking the 500m TT bronze with a time of 34.928. Her expectations were mild having recently hurt her hamstring, but she was able to use her endurance and second lap speed to make up for her slow start.

The last event of the evening, the men’s team sprint, pitted favorites Great Britain against the Netherlands. In the end it was the British (Chris Hoy, Jason Queally, and Jamie Staff) taking the win with a time of 44.379 over the Dutch (Theo Bos, Teun Mulder, and Tim Veldt 44.713). New riders on each the German and French teams played into the results with John Matthias, Stefan Nimke, and René Wolff of Germany taking the bronze medal over France’s Mickaël Bourgain, Arnaud Tournant, and Grégory Bauge in an extremely close matchup. The Germans won by less than one-tenth of second with a time of 44.790 compared to 44.835.

“It’s great for morale to get that gold medal again,” said Hoy.

Fellow British team sprint rider Staff incurred some mechanical problems with his pedals. He said of the misfortune, “Something’s bound to go wrong. You can’t let it phase you. That didn’t bother me at all.”

Looking ahead, the first morning session of the championships on Friday begins at 10am. Events being held include the women’s 200m sprint qualifying and early rounds, men’s 4km individual pursuit qualifying, and men’s early keirin rounds.

Men’s 40km Points Race Final

1. Volodymyr Rybin (UKR)
2. Ioannis Tamouridis (GRE)
3. Joan Llaneras (ESP)

Women’s 500m TT Final

1. Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR)
2. Anna Meares (AUS)
3. Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED)

Men’s Team Sprint Final Results

1. Great Britain (Chris Hoy, Jason Queally, and Jamie Staff)
2. Netherlands (Theo Bos, Teun Mulder, and Tim Veldt)
3. Germany (John Matthias, Stefan Nimke, and René Wolff)

Complete results and start lists available at www.tissottiming.com

For complete event reports following the competition, visit www.usacycling.org.

For complete information on the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, visit www.usacycling.org.

A copy of the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships media guide is available here.

For a photo gallery of images from the week’s competition, click here.