The Cat 4/5 St Championship Scratch Race saw 19 riders take to the track. Attacks came from various riders but all the attacks were neutralized. A tumble of riders at about the halfway mark saw Mark Leppke and Steve Redelsberger remount their bikes and get back into the race. It was all together with two laps to go. As the sprint unfolded, two riders collided and caused at least three others to fall. With riders scattered all over the back stretch, Redelsberger, Andrew Sherve and Eric Ware seized the opportunity to sprint to the front. They were able to hold their lead for the final two laps to take the podium spots for the Cat. 4/5 Championship.

 

With only four Thursday Night Lights remaining before the end of the 2008 season the competition for the title of Track Rider Of the Year is getting serious. Brian Crosby's comfortable lead allowed him to miss last night but Chris Ferris is chasing him hard and has reduced the gap to 20 points. Just behind them Andy Kruse and Mike Sobol are fighting for third place and are only separated by 10 points.
 
Finally in the women's category, Elena Dorr finally closed the gap and she is now 10 points ahead of Heidi Dahlmann but her sister Melissa is still in the lead. Although Dorr's efforts were effective, she will have difficulty holding onto her place in the standings as she has had to start school in Chicago. Elena will continue to train and prepare for Collegiate Track Nationals in Illinois.The battle for first and second in the women's division will most probably be between sisters Heidi and Melissa Dahlmann.
 
In Cat 1,2  the riders showed that they are in good condition and ready to race. The Miss and Out was again a very fast paced race. The field was strung out in line with riders gasping for air for the entire race making it difficult for the sprinters to advance from the rear of the pack on the sprint laps.
 
Only five teams took to the track for the State Championship Madison but the competition was hard and fast. Brian Crosby, one of the defending champions, was absent which meant that new teams were formed. The combination of Mike Sobol and Andy Kruse proved to be the strongest team finishing ahead of Adam Bergman and Kevin Schaeffer with Chris Ferris and Doug Regester in third all finishing on the same lap.

Click here for Thursday Night Lights and Madison State Championship results for 8/14.

Category         Rider                   Club
Cat 1,2     Michael Sobol         SpeedFix Racing 
Cat 3        Alex Atherton          N/A
Cat 4,5     Steve Redelsperger  Bianchi/GP
Women     Elena Dorr              SpeedFix Racing 

 

View full results here...

The Women's 30 lap Scratch Race was the fourth in the County Cycle series. Elena Dorr has been leading this competition going into the race but it will be her last race of the season here at Blaine.
 
The race started slowly with the riders marking each other. Melissa Dahlmann lead for much of the early laps with Shana Sturla in close attendance. Dahlmann decided it was time to draw out the competition and so launched an attack that saw her lead by about 30 meters. The pack watched and waited to see who would be charged with chasing her down. Eventually Elena Dorr and Linsey Hamilton made a strong move and broke away from the field. They overhauled a tiring Melissa Dahlmann and gained almost a 50 meter lead.  Melissa organized a late race chase but it was too late to catch the two escapees. In the end Hamilton had to give way to the diminutive Dorr in the final dash for the line and Sturla was able to hold off the field for third place.

The Olympics are here and of course it is probably the most important event for track cyclists around the world. At this writing the British team has been the dominant force by winning the Match Sprint (Chris Hoy), Team Sprint ( new record time of 42 seconds and change), Men's Keirin (Hoy), Individual Pursuit (Bradley Wiggins - 4:16), Team Pursuit (World record of 3:53), Womens Individual Pursuit and Women's Match Sprint. The Brits have truly shown the world what a well organized and funded national team program is capable of!