December 12, 2004- On the second evening of the Los Angeles World Cup at the ADT Event Center the 30 kilometer men’s points race was decided by a matter of inches in the final sprint as Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo.) placed second to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS). Pearce and Ignatiev had each lapped the field three times throughout the 120-lap race and had both amassed 74 points with only the 12th and final sprint remaining. On the decisive sprint, neither Ignatiev nor Pearce scored points but the tiebreaker went to Ignatiev who beat Pearce across the line by a matter of inches in a photo finish.

Pearce started the evening strong and maintained a comfortable lead but the crafty Ignatiev, known for his intelligent and tactical riding, chipped away at Pearce’s lead and tied the race with ten laps to go by winning the penultimate sprint. Pearce, whose three laps on the filed yielded 60 points, won two intermediate sprints and placed second and fourth in two others. Ignatiev was consistently in the mix, scoring points in half of the evening’s sprints including five big ones with 10 laps to go.

With half a lap remaining, Pearce led Ignatiev by two bike lengths and looked as though he would give the U.S. its second world cup points race win in as many days, but Ignatiev moved up on the outside and passed Pearce as the two crossed the finish line.

Pearce’s silver medal gives the U.S. its second podium finish of the weekend after Erin Mirabella (Racine, Wis.) won the women’s points race on Friday.

Mirabella was in action again today, this time in the women’s 3km individual pursuit, and was in position to stand atop the podium for the second consecutive day. After clocking a 3:48.066 in the morning’s qualifying round, Mirabella was seeded third and faced fourth ranked Elena Chalykh (RUS) in the race for bronze. A slow start doomed Mirabella early as she ceded third place to the Russian with a time of 3:54.649. In the gold medal race, heavy favorite Katie Mactier (AUS) overtook Emma Davies (GBR) before the 3km mark to secure the victory.

Earlier in the day, Christian Stahl (Bethany, Conn.) and Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo.) competed in the men’s sprint. The two members of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team qualified 12th and 13th respectively behind a 10.793 and a 10.811. Of the 36 riders in the qualifying round, only the top 16 advanced to the 1/8 finals where Stahl faced Kazuya Narita (JPN) and Massie was matched up against Tim Veldt (NED). A new UCI rule this year eliminates a rider from competition after a single loss meaning there was no room for error and no second chance for either of the Americans should they lose their opening head-to-head match ups. Unfortunately for the American duo, that was the case as Veldt and Narita moved on.

The men’s sprint final showcased two Frenchman, Arnaud Tournant and Mikael Bourgain, teammates and medalists in Athens. Bourgain bested his compatriot in two straight sprints to take the win as Narita went on to take the bronze.

In the men’s team pursuit, Germany bested New Zealand in the final for the gold medal with a time of 4:11.799 as the Ukraine beat a young Australian squad for the bronze.

In the day’s only other event, the women’s 500 meter time trial, the U.S. had no entry into a field that boasted many top sprinters. Athens bronze medalist and winner of yesterday’s sprint, Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR), posted a winning time of 34.740 to beat Elisa Frisoni (ITA) and Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED).

The Los Angeles World Cup concludes on Sunday with the final four events. Massie and Stahl will join Ryan Nelman (Houston, Texas) for the men’s team sprint and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein (Orefield, Pa.) will team up with Pearce in the men’s madison. In women’s competition, Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) will compete in the keirin and Anna Webb (San Diego, Calif.) and Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.) will contest the women’s scratch race.