Nation Gold Silver Bronze Great Britain 9 2 0 Nederlands 3 3 2 Belarus 2 0 1 France 1 3 3 USA 1 1 1 Cuba 1 1 0 New Zealand 1 0 0 Denmark 0 2 1 Lithuania 0 2 0 Germany 0 1 4 Australia 0 1 3 China 0 1 0 Ukraine 0 1 0 Greece 0 0 1 Italy 0 0 1 Russia 0 0 1 Manchester World Championships - Day 5 Dateline 30 March 2008 Jennie Reed gained a gold medal and Rainbow jersey for the USA with a win in the Keirin over double world champion Victoria Pendleton. Hayden Godfrey took the Omnium for New Zealand and Teun Mulder took advantage of Chris Hoy’s absence to win the Kilo. Eleonora Van Dijk took the 10km and her win gave the Nederlands second place in the national medal table. Official Results... UCI President Pat McQuaid was quoted as saying that 2008 was the most successful world track championships ever staged by the UCI. Full houses and enthusiastic support for all five days was great to see. Hopefully the media will at last take note. But the actual coverage on BBCi was less than announced before the start; despite the scale of the home successes. And “non-sport” news presenters at the BBC are still at the level of “I don’t understand how it (the Madison) works..... it’s very confusing...”. Perhaps some in-house training is needed. Finally congratulations must go the event organisers, Events Group / World Track Cycling Limited, and the Manchester Velodrome staff for making the week work so well.

Manchester World Championships - Day 4 Dateline 29 March 2008 Holland’s Marianne Vos claimed victory in the Points Race to make a unique treble by winning World Championships in the Track, Road and Cyclo-cross disciplines. And Team GB went even further ahead in the national medal table with more gold for Chris Hoy in the Keirin and Bradley Wiggins who partnered Mark Cavendish in the Madison. Pictures... Official Results...

Manchester World Championships - Day 3
Dateline 28 March 2008
Belarus added a second gold medal to their tally when Vasili Kiryienka won the Points Race and raised team spirits after a serious crash by sprinter Natallia Tsylinskaya. Team GB continued with their medal harvest with golds for Chris Hoy and the Women’s Team Pursuit squad; who completed the clean sweep of the four pursuit events. Pictures...

Outline Programme
17 March 2008
The main points of the championship programme have been published and are now included in the table below.

Many of the national teams have also been finalised. The host nation’s squad has been announced as Lizzie Armitstead, Steve Burke, Mark Cavendish, Ed Clancy, Kate Cullen, Steve Cummings, Rob Hayles, Wendy Houvenaghel, Paul Manning, Rebecca Romero, Jo Rowsell, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins for the endurance events with Anna Blyth, Matt Crampton, David Daniell, Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny, Vicky Pendleton, Shanaze Reade, Jamie Staff and Jessica Varnish for the sprints.

The German Cycling Federation has announced a team of 14 men and 7 women. The men are Robert Bartko, Daniel Becke, Hennign Bomel, Robert Bengsch, Patrick Gretsch, Olaf Pollack, Roger Kluge, Marcel Kalz, Carsten Bergemann, Rene Enders, Robert Förstemann, Maximilian Levy, Stefan Nimke and Michael Seidenbecher. For the women the team members are Charlotte Becker, Elke Gebhardt, Alexandra Sontheimer, Verena Jooß, Dana Glöß, Christin Muche and Miriam Welte.

The USA team includes Michael Blatchford, Adam Duvendeck, Michael Friedman, Bobby Lea, Colby Pearce and Taylor Phinney for the men and Sarah Hammer, Becky Quinn and Jennie Reed for the women.

The Australian selectors are not making final decisions about the men’s endurance team until the eve of the championships but the firm places have gone to Ryan Bayley, Daniel Ellis, Mark French, Shane Kelly, Ben Kersten, Shane Perkins and Scott Sunderland for the men; with Kaarle McCulloch, Anna Meares, Katherine Bates, Belinda Goss and Katie Mactier being selected for the women.

Manchester World Championships

Day Events BBC TV coverage Wednesday 26 March 2008 Men Individual Pursuit Men Scratch Race Men Team Sprint Women 500m Time Trial 1515-1700, BBCi 1900-2000, BBC TWO 2000-2200, BBCi 2320-2400, BBC TWO Thursday 27 March 2008 Men Team Pursuit Women Individual Pursuit Women Team Sprint Men Sprint Rounds & Quarter Final 1200-1700, BBCi 1830-2200, BBCi 1900-2000, BBC TWO 2320-2400, BBC TWO Friday 28 March 2008 Men Points Race Men Sprint Semi-final & Final Women Team Pursuit Women Sprint Rounds & Quarter Final 1400-1700, BBCi 1900-2200, BBCi 1900-2000, BBC TWO 2330-2410, BBC TWO Saturday 29 March 2008 Men Madison Men Keirin Women Points Race Women Sprint Semi-final & Final 1300-1630, BBC ONE Sunday 30 March 2008 Men Omnium Men 1 Kilometre Time Trial Women Scratch Race Women Keirin 1430-1800, BBCi 1530-1800, BBC TWO

10 March 2008
With two weeks to go to the start of racing the UCI has published the list of qualifying countries. This year there will be 47 nations represented. The pro’s with serious track ambitions have tried to avoid potential UCI sanctions by not starting in Paris-Nice. And all the leading names are expected to be present - Theo Bos, Sergi Escobar, Juan Llaneras, Bradley McGee, Anna Mears, Marianne Vos, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, etc.
The first day (Wednesday) features the Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race, Team Sprint and the Women’s 500m Time Trial. Tickets via link below.
I hope to be there myself for at least some of the finals but if you cannot make it then the BBC will be covering the action; see info box right plus the BBC Sport website