Hammer scores bronze in Olympic test

Phinney just misses medaling

By staff and wire reports

American Sarah Hammer rode to a bronze medal in the individual pursuit as the second round of the UCI Track World Cup Classics series opened Friday in Beijing.

Australian Katie Mactier took the gold with Britain’s Rebecca Romero second.

In men’s racing, Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain took the individual pursuit ahead of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Dyudya with Russian Alexander Serov winning the bronze-medal round against American Taylor Phinney.

Wiggins, the reigning Olympic and world champion, made a late-race comeback to take the gold. Dyudya led at the 2000- and 3000-meter marks, but Wiggins clawed his way back in the final kilometer, posting a winning time of 4:25.316. Dyudya, the winner at the World Cup opener in Sydney last week, finished in 4:25.847.

The bronze-medal round was an exciting back-and-forth battle. Phinney owned the early advantage, only to see Serov take the lead back, and then almost relinquish it at the finish. The final margin was just 0.109 seconds, with Serov posting a 4:26.240 to Phinney’s 4:26.349.

Serov also won bronze in Sydney.

The Beijing race also serves as the official Olympic Test Event; it is being held on the Olympic track in west Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome. The World Cup series moves to Los Angeles in January and concludes in Denmark in February. —Agence France Presse contributed to this report.

UCI Track World Cup Classics
Beijing, CHN. Dec. 7
Men
Individual pursuit
1. Bradley Wiggins (GB)
2. Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr)
3. Alexander Serov (Rus)

Points race
1. Joan Llaneras Rossello (Sp) 60
2. Chris Newton (GB) 54
3. Cameron Meyer (Aus) 53

Team sprint
1. The Netherlands
2. France
3. Britain

Women
Individual pursuit
1. Katie Mactier (Aus)
2. Rebecca Romero (GB)
3. Sarah Hammer (USA)

Scratch
1. Marianne Vos (Ned)
2. Belinda Goss (Aus)
3. Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso (Cub)

Sprint
1. Natallia Tsylinskaya (Blr)
2. Victoria Pendleton (GB)
3. Clara Sanchez (F)