Weekend wrap: Road, 'cross, Track and MTB action
Results, reports and photos from Australia, Europe, Japan and North America
The road season may be starting to wind down for the year but this weekend was packed full of racing on the road, in the mud and on the boards, and we have a round up of the action in one easy location for you.
European Track Championships Day 4: Viviani wins second straight Omnium title
Sunderland wins Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic
Mollema takes Japan Cup victory
European Track Championships day 5: Trott rides away with omnium gold
Lechner triumphs at Valkenburg and takes World Cup lead
One-man show from Van der Haar at Valkenburg
Huber takes Crocodile Trophy lead after stage 2
Six Day London: Stewart wins 1878 Cup
Summerhill and Gould collect wins on day 2 at US Open of CX
Bauke Mollema finishes season with Japan Cup victory
Next weekend Japan hosts the Saitama Criterium but this weekend was about the final 1.HC race on calendar, the Japan Cup, with several big names ready to race the 1990 World Championships course and close out the season with a victory. Bauke Mollema took the win ahead of Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) and Yukiya Arashiro (Japan National Team) to make it two wins in two days after Fumy Beppu won the criterium on Saturday.
"I was just following attacks until the last time up the climb, and then I saved all my energy for the finish. I knew it would most likely come to a sprint with a small group and it was better to save all my energy for this, but I still was not sure to win because the others were faster than me. But in the end I was strong enough to do it," said Mollema of his second win of the season after the Tour of Alberta last month.
Click here for the full race coverage of the Japan Cup
Bauke Mollema (Trek) celebrates winning the Japan Cup (TDW Sports)
Chrono des Nations wins for Kiryienka and Antoshina
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Also held on the weekend was the Chrono des Nations in France where Vasil Kiryienka rode his first race in the rainbow jersey as the time trial world champion. The Team Sky rider easily accounted for the rest of the field with his winning margin 1:12 minutes ahead of ONE Pro Cycling's Polish champion Marcin Bialoblocki.
The women's race was won by Russia's Tatiana Antoshina just 16 seconds head of Anna Solovey (Ukraine). It was Antoshina's first ride against the clock since the World Championships when she finished 11th in Richmond. The 33-year-old had also won time trials at the Tour de Feminin, the national championships and Ljubljana-Domzale-Ljubljana TT this season.
For full Chrono des Nations race coverage, click here
Van der Haar and Lechner win at Valkenburg Cyclo-Cross World Cup
It wasn't all road racing this week as the second round of the UCI Cyclo-Cross season for 2015-16 was held in Valkenburg.
In the elite men's race, Lars van der Haar (Giant-Alpecin) won on the course for the third straight year and in doing so, ended the early-season dominance of Wout Van Aert (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) and simultaneously cut the Belgian's overall World Cup lead to just 10 points.
"I felt really good. If I want to win then this is a course where I have to try it," said van der Haar.
Van Aert was 24 seconds behind van der Haar in second place while Sven Nys crossed the line in third, 34 seconds down.
Italian national champion Eva Lechner (Team Colnago-SudTirol) proved the strongest of the elite women riding away from Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) on the penultimate lap, soloing to victory.
"It was really hard for me, I was suffering a lot with the jetlag after coming from the Olympic test event in Rio," Lechner said after her win – her second World Cup victory after last season's success in Hoogerheide. "I'm so happy that I still managed to win. I was fighting a lot. It was a bonus to have MTB experience as it was technical. There was a lot of mud."
While Lechner was riding to the win out in front, 23-year-old Kaitlin Antonneau was impressive in her attempts to the catch her and the American was just 10 seconds shy of doing so on the line. Pavla Havlikova crossed the line 11 seconds later to complete the podium. The win also moved Lechner into the World Cup lead on 100 points with Sanne Cant in second place on the standings on 85 points.
The U23 men's race was also won by an Italian as Gioele Bertolini got the better of Belgian Eli Iserbyt and France's Clement Russo. The junior men's race was won by Jappe Jaspers (Belgium), 34 seconds ahead of Jens Dekker (Netherlands).
Click here for the full Valkenburg World Cup race coverage
The men's Valkenburg podium of Wout Van Aert, Lars van der Haar and Sven Nys (TDW Sport)
Four winners from four races at US Open of Cyclocross
While the World Cup attracted plenty of top talent, the US Open of Cyclocross saw some of the best North American 'cross races battle it out over two day in Boulder for the wins.
Day 1 victories went to Jamey Driscoll (Raleigh-Clement) ahead of Danny Summerhill (Maxxis-Shimano) as France's Caroline Mani (Raleigh-Clement) took the women's race ahead of Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team).
Day 2 saw Summerhill and Driscoll traded places with the Maxxis-Shimano rider coming out on top. It was the same story in the women's race as Gould bounced back from second place to take the win with Mani next across the line.
Caroline Mani of Raleigh-Clement (Dave McElwaine)
Great Britain come out on top at 2015 European Track Championships
It was a packed weekend of Track racing as the European Track Championships came to a close on Sunday in Grenchen, Switzerland as the London Six Day was making its debut in the British capitol.
On Day 3 of the Euros, Laura Trott won the Scratch gold medal, Wojciech Pszczolarski the men's points medal while the Netherlands dominated the sprint events. Elis Ligtlee won the gold medal ahead of Anastasiia Voinova (Russia) in the women's event while Jeffrey Hoogland got the better of Max Niederlag (Germany).
Day 4 saw Elia Viviani narrowly defend his Omnium title ahead of Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark) despite the do being tied in 191 points as the Italian's higher places across the event gave him the the advantage. BMC's Swiss Individual pursuit world champion Stefan Küng broke a national record as he won gold in the same event defeating Germany's Domenic Weinstein in the final. France's Bryan Coquard also grabbed a gold medal as he won the elimination race ahead of Simone Consonni (Italy).
In the final events of the day, Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) won the men's 1km time trial with Anastasiia Voinova of Russia winning the women's 500m time trial.
The fifth and final day of the championships witnessed Great Britain add two more gold medal's to its tally as Trott won her tenth European title in the omnium and Katie Archibald was the quickest rider in the individual pursuit. Trott finished the omnium with 231 points, well ahead of Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) on 195 and Ausrine Trebaite (Lithuania) on 185 points. It would be a golden night for Archibald as the 21-year-old added to her team and individual pursuit medals by winning the elimination race.
In the other final day events, Czech Republic's Pavel Keleman upset world champion Francois Pervis to win the keirin, Spain's Sebastian Mora and Albert Torres won the Madison ahead of Mikhail Radionov and Andrey Sazanov (Russia), Elis Ligtlee added another gold to her cabinet as she won the women's keirin.
Great Britain finished the championships top of the medal tally with six gold and nine in total, the same amount as Netherlands who take home five golds.
Click here for the full coverage of the 2015 European Track Championships.
Riding the boards at the European Championships (Getty Images)
London Six Day 1 update
As the European championships came to a close, the London Six Day started with Mark Stewart wining the 1878 Cup as a birthday present for his mum.
"It was my Mum's birthday yesterday, so it's a birthday present for her," Stewart said. "I don’t see her that often because we live and train in Manchester away from our families.
Germany's Eric Balzer won the men's sprint ahead of Japan's Kazunari Watanabe but the Japanese rider's revenge was quick as he won the keirin.
"The keirin is the event I wanted to win because it originated in Japan so I am really happy with that performance," he said.
Click here to keep up to date with the latest from the London Six Day
Mark Stewart (Getty Images)
Sunderland surprise at Melbourne to Warrnambool
It was an historical weekend of racing in Australia as the Crocodile Trophy turned 21 and the Melbourne to Warrnambool was held for the 100th time. Former Commonwealth Games team sprint and 1km time trial gold medalist Scott Sunderland proved the 279km distance of the 'Warny' was no obstacle for a former pure track sprinter as he got the better of Alex Edmondson in a bunch sprint for his biggest road win yet.
For full race results from the Melbourne to Warrnambool click here.
The Melbourne to Warrnambool podium (Con Chronis / Cycling Australia)
Crocodile Trophy turns 21
Mountain bike racing saw the start of the 21st edition of the Crocodile Trophy in Cairns, Australia on Saturday with Nicholas Pettina winning the opening stage despite having to race in a cotton t-shirt after his luggage was lost on his way to Australia. Stage 2 went to former two-time winner Urs Huber with victory also pushing him into the overall lead. Today's stage 3 takes the riders from Lake Tinaroo to Atherton 59km later.
Click here for full race coverage of the Crocodile Trophy.
It's not cycling jersey but worked for stage 1 winner Nicholas Pettina (Regina Stanger / Crocodile Trophy)
