Track Cycling: UCI World Cup: Los Angeles, CA: 1/18/08

     The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Cup of track cycling was at the Home Depot Center in Carson last weekend, and I attended the first of 3 days of competition. I had never seen this sport live, and it was rather interesting (if not somewhat odd). These world class athletes rode on single-speed fixed gear track bikes at speeds up to 40 mph around the velodrome. Los Angeles represented the third of four UCI World Cup Classics racing meets. Events in Sydney, Australia and Bejing, China occurred before the new year, and the riders will get together again in Ballerup, Denmark in February.
     The events I witnessed varied from all out sprints to strategic games of cat and mouse. The one-on-one sprint started off resembling the latter. Neither rider wanted to be out in front, thus enabling drafting off the leader and saving energy for a burst down the final stretch. As the short race progressed, one rider would make a move and the sprint was on. Sometimes the strategy to trail paid off, but other times it didn’t and the leader would hold on to win. No matter what, it was always close, within hundredths of a second.
     The men’s point race was another event that required a degree of strategy. This race constituted 138 laps around the track (yes, it was long!). Periodically a particular lap was worth points, and the leading cyclists for that lap would get points. The winner was the one with the most points, not necessarily the first one to the finish line. World Cup leader Cameron Meyer defended his title and came away with the victory (pictured above).
     I particularly enjoyed the men’s individual pursuit races. I saw it as a more accurate measure of each rider’s capacity for speed. Two competitors would start at opposite ends of the track, thus eliminating drafting from the equation. 18-year-old American phenom Taylor Phinney took first place. It was the last race of the evening, and the crowd definitely got into it. We all cheered with each lap as he whizzed by at an average of 33+ mph over the 4000 km race (16 laps).
     Click for full results of the event.