Paul Burgoine visits one of the most classic of Track Opens in Britain, if not the World at the 1948 Olympic Velodrome
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You can see why so many people fought so hard to keep this historic velodrome open; as soon as you walk into the gates you can sense the community spirit, and pride the people that use this track have for it and for each other, there is a real camaraderie amongst people both young and old.
Photos from the event: Antony Edmonds  http://aephotos.co.uk/hernehill6apr2012Â
On the other hand, this is prime land in one of South London’s most affluent areas and you just know it is going to be a constant struggle holding on to this little gem of a track. Obviously being outdoors, all planned meetings are under constant threat from the elements; luckily today was a beautiful spring day with plenty of sunshine and no threat of rain.
After the qualifying heats for the sprints, there was a Bike Polo game held in the track centre. Unfortunately the players were geared up for hard-court polo, so the normally fast and exciting game lost a bit of its appeal which was a shame because as a spectator sport its very entertaining.
First up was the ‘Sid Stevens Handicap Final’ this was won by Leuan Williams (CC Cardiff) from Callum Skinner (City of Edinburgh Racing Club). By now the Herne Hill Velodrome was filling up nicely and the atmosphere was intensifying.
Next up was the first round of the ‘Dragon Smoke Derny GP’. What a fantastic sight it was to see the fourteen dernys humming their way around the track eventually picking up the riders to pace them through the 30 lap race. The early pace was made by Adam Duggleby (Sportscover Altura RT). He was soon joined by Benoit Daeninck (French Derny Champion) then with six laps remaining, British Derny Champion Jack Kirk (UVCA Troyes) and his top German pacer Peter Bauerlein came up smoothly to the leaders and proceeded to ride straight over the top of the leaders and quickly pulled out a big lead.
In the end they won convincingly from Daenenick and Duggleby. The second round was almost a carbon copy of the first with British Champion Kirk laying off the front for the first half of the race, but when he made his move it was very smooth and decisive. He wrapped up the overall win with such relative ease, even he was surprised at how easy his win was. Second overall was Benoit Daeninick the French Champion and the international podium was completed by the Belgium Champion, Randy Costerman.
The ‘White Hope Sprint’ was won by the imposing figure of Barnaby Swinnerton (Swinnerton Cycles) measuring his effort to perfection. The ‘Ed Taylor Points Race’ was a exciting affair as Tony Lock (Edwardes Elite) made the obligatory early break but the race was dominated by three men – Adam Duggleby (Sportscover Altura RT), Dominic Hill (Bec CC) and Marcel Kalz (Germany) Going into the final sprint, Duggleby and Kalz were even on ten points with Hill on eight so Hill put in a big attack on the back straight but was reeled in by the bunch and Kalz took the final sprint convincingly to take the overall win from Duggleby and Hill.
The ‘Devil’ saw the famous (in South London) veteran Jim Robertson (Whitten Timber) go off on one of his do or die attacks. Unfortunately for Jim, it was die and he was the first rider to be eliminated. There were so many riders in the race, it needed two eliminations each lap to whittle the field down to the final three riders to contest the sprint where it was a popular winner, in the shape of Richard St Pierre (Brixton Cycles).
The ‘Whitten Timber Open Sprint’ was a convincing win for Pete Mitchell (Team V Sprint Racing). Mitchell had been impressive all through qualifying and the heats and was a deserving winner. In the ten man ‘Neovite Super Keirin’ final that looked more like a scratch race, there was a sprint for the line between Ross Edgar (Team Sky) and Lewis Oliva (Bristol Cycling Development Squad) with Oliva just holding off Edgar.
The ‘Crystal Palace Tri Elimination’ was won by the inform Dominic Hill (Bec CC). The final event was the ‘Golden Wheel 20k Scratch’ with an amazing £1,000 winning purse, this was an exciting finale to the day. Seven riders managed to get a good gap on the field with Tom Murray (IG Sigma Sport) and Adam Duggleby (Sportscover Altura RT) coming out of the group and holding off the chasing pack for some time.
On the final lap though, Dominic Hill (Bec CC) made a brave attempt to ride solo to the line but eventually Marcel Kalz (Germany) was brought into the final straight by his fellow country man Christian Grasman to get the win from last year’s win Adam Duggleby.
The Good Friday Track Meeting 2012
RESULTS
Sid Stevens 500m Handicap
Ieuan WILLIAMS CC Cardiff
Callum SKINNER City of Edinburgh Racing Club
John PAUL City of Edinburgh Racing Club
Lewis OLIVA Bristol Cycling Development Squad
Matthew ROTHERHAM Sportcity Velo
=6th
Wayne CROMBIE East London Velo
Peter MITCHELL Team V Sprint Racing
Tom BAKER Team V Sprint Racing
Jack HOYLE Team Terminator
White Hope Sprint
Barnaby SWINNERTON Swinnerton Cycles
Ryan WHATMOUGH Shepherds Cycles
Jack HOYLE Team Terminator
Sean MAYER Lyme RC – Swinnerton Cycles
James HOLLAND – LEADER Prestige VC – Sigma Sport/TCR Show/Zipvit
Imogen FARLIE Team Terminator
Ed Taylor Points Race 12.5kms
Marcel KALTZ GERMANY
Adam DUGGLEBY Sportscover-Altura RT
Dominic HILL Bec CC
Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles.co.uk
James NOTLEY Planet X
John McCLELLAND Prestige VC – Sigma Sport/TCR Show/Zipvit
Devil Take the Hindmost 8kms
Richard St PIERRE Brixton Cycles
George GORI La Fuga – Sigma Sport CC
Ryan WHATMOUGH Shepherds Cycles
Tom ARNSTEIN Velo Ecosse
Jack EDWARDS PM Racing
Alan TROLOVE West Suffolk Wheelers
DERNY PACED RACES- OVERALL 2 Races 15km each
Jack KIRK UVCA Troyes
Wim BERNHERT BELGIUM
Adam DUGGLEBY Sportscover-Altura RT
Tom MURRAY Team IG – Sigmasport
Alistair RUTHERFORD Vanillabikes.com
James HOLLAND – LEADER Prestige VC – Sigma Sport/TCR Show/Zipvit
Randy COSTERMAN BELGIUM
Symon LEWIS Edwardes Elite Cycling
David BREARLEY Cottingham Coureurs RT
Nick ENGLISH AW Cycles.co.uk
Ian COOPER Planet X
Alex WISE VC St Raphael
FEMALE KEIRINÂ
Victoria WILLIAMSON Welwyn Wheelers
Danielle KHAN Solihull CC
Lydia BOYLAN Look Mum No Hands!
Ellie COSTER Bush Healthcare
Sarah CROWLEY Cardiff Ajax CC
Imogen FARLIE Team Terminator
Matthew ROTHERHAM Sportcity Velo
Adel TYSON-BLOOR VC St Raphael
WHITTEN TIMBER SPRINT
Peter MITCHELL Team V Sprint Racing
Callum SKINNER City of Edinburgh Racing Club
David DANIEL Team V Sprint Racing
Ross EDGAR Team Sky
John PAUL City of Edinburgh Racing Club
Ieuan WILLIAMS CC Cardiff
Lewis OLIVA Bristol Cycling Development Squad
Matthew ROTHERHAM Sportcity Velo
Michal ROHON SLOVAKIA
Jody CUNDY Para-T (Cycling Team)
CRYSTAL PALACE TRI SUPER DEVIL 8kms
Dominic HILL Bec CC
Tom MURRAY Team IG – Sigmasport
Stephen BRADBURY AW Cycles.co.uk
Adam DUGGLEBY Sportscover-Altura RT
Jack CRACKNELL Team V Sprint Racing
Simon GAYWOOD Team IG – Sigmasport
Jack KIRK UVCA Troyes
James NOTLEY Planet X
RON BECKETT SCRATCH 10kms
Tim RYAN Cardiff Jif
James SOLLY VC Londres
Jack EDWARDS PM Racing
Tom ARNSTEIN Velo Ecosse
Gus GILLIES Bicycleworks.com
Ryan WHATMOUGH Shepherds Cycles
NEOVITE SUPER KEIRIN
Lewis OLIVA Bristol Cycling Development Squad
Matthew ROTHERHAM Sportcity Velo
Peter MITCHELL Team V Sprint Racing
Callum SKINNER City of Edinburgh Racing Club
John PAUL City of Edinburgh Racing Club
Ross EDGAR Team Sky
GOLDEN WHEEL 20kms SCRATCH RACE
Marcel KALTZ GERMANY
Adam DUGGLEBY Sportscover-Altura RT
Tom MURRAY Team IG – Sigmasport
Alistair RUTHERFORD Vanillabikes.com
Randy COSTERMANS BELGIUM
Christian GRASMAN GERMANY
