Huff wins bronze medal in omnium at UCI Track World Championships

Palma de Mallorca, Spain (March 29, 2007)—Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo./Slipstream-Chipotle) won a bronze medal in the inaugural omnium event at the 2007 UCI Track World Championships on Thursday to become the first American male to medal at an elite track world championships in nine years.   

After ending the morning session ranked third after three events, Huff temporarily dropped to eighth place overall after the points race, but rebounded with a strong performance in the kilometer time trial to secure the first medal for the U.S. team as the only American in action on the opening day of competition.  Huff’s medal was the first for an American male since Erin Hartwell won a bronze medal in the kilometer-time trial in 1998. It was also the first men's endurance medal won by the United States since 1994 when the team pursuit squad won silver.  

Huff finished the five-event competition with 37 points, tied with Aliaksandr Lisouski of Belarus, but won the tiebreaker with a lower cumulative time in the three timed events. “I can’t really believe I got third because I had such bad legs all day, but I’m excited that I was able to get third somehow,” explained Huff.  “It just shows that as much as you suffer in cycling and you have good days and bad days, you just have to get on your bike and pedal, and even if you get dropped you can get something out of it.”   

The Czech Republic’s Alois Kankovsky won the event with 19 points and Walter Fernando Perez of Argentina finished second with 28 points. 

Huff ended the morning session ranked third after competing in the 200-meter time trial, the five-kilometer scratch race and the three-kilometer individual pursuit, but his medal chances took a turn for the worse after the first event in the evening session – the 15-kilometer points race.  In the points race, Huff failed to score any points and placed 12th in the event, dropping him to eighth place in the overall standings with just one event remaining. 

“In the points race, I would set myself up and get in position for the sprints, but then I’d just drift through the pack.  When there was a sprint or a move that went away, I just didn’t have that deep sprint or that deep push of power.  It was very frustrating to have such bad legs today, but I’m excited I was able to get third somehow.” 

In the kilometer time trial, Huff clocked a time of 1:06.319 to place fourth.  At the end of the competition, Huff totaled 37 points, the same as Lisouski, but his total cumulative time from the kilometer time trial, the pursuit and the 200-meter time trial added up to 4:42.788 compared to Lisouski’s 4:42.964. The quarter-second time difference was enough to give Huff the bronze medal.  

“I just knew I had to go as hard as I could in the kilo. I knew I couldn’t spin the gear because I was so far down, so I just put a bigger gear on and just manned up and tried to go for it."   

The second day of the 2007 UCI Track World Championships will feature four Americans, including Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Ouch Pro Cycling) who looks to defend her world title in the women’s three-kilometer individual pursuit. Both Hammer and Neva Day (Manhattan Beach, Calif./South Bay Wheelmen) will compete in the qualifying round of the pursuit at 10:00 a.m. local time, (4:00 a.m. EST).  

Also competing in the morning session will be Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.).  Reed will race in the qualifying round of the women’s sprint where one of the 16 fastest times in the 200-meter race against the clock will advance her to the first round of head-to-head competition.  

Also on Friday, Brad Huff will compete in his second and final event of the weekend, the men’s scratch race.  Huff will ride in one of two qualifying heats in the morning session with the goal of advancing to the 15-kilometer scratch race final in the evening session.    

2007 UCI Track World Championships
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
March 29-April 1 

Session Two Results   

Men’s Omnium (Final Standings)
1. Alois Kankovsky (CZE) 19
2. Walter Fernando Perez (ARG) 28
3. Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo.) 37 

Men’s Omnium (15-Kilometer Points Race)
1. Walter Fernando Perez (ARG) 30
2. Daniel Kreutzfeldt (DEN) 27
3. Jesse Sergent (NZL) 23
12. Brad Huff (USA) 0 

Men’s Omnium (Kilometer Time Trial)
1. Michael D’Almeida (FRA) 1:02.399
2. Alois Kankovsky (CZE) 1:04.183
3. Robert Slippens (NED) 1:06.022
4. Brad Huff (USA) 1:06.319 

Americans Up Next: Friday, March 30

What: Women’s Sprint (200-Meter Qualifying, 1/16 final, 1/8 final. 1/8 repechage)
When: 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. E.S.T.)
Who: Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.)

What: Women’s 3-kilometer Individual Pursuit (Qualifying)
When: 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. E.S.T.)
Who: Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.), Neva Day (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) 

What: Men’s 7.5-kilometer Scratch Race (Qualifying)
When: 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 a.m. E.S.T.)
Who: Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo.) 

What: Women’s 3-kilometer Individual Pursuit (Finals)
When: 7:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. E.S.T.)
Who: TBD 

What: Women’s Sprint (1/4 finals, 5th to 8th places)
When: 7:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. E.S.T.)
Who: TBD 

What: Women’s Sprint (1/4 finals, 5th to 8th places)
When: 7:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. E.S.T.)
Who: TBD 

What: Men’s 15-kilometer Scratch Race (finals)
When: 7:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. E.S.T.)
Who: TBD For complete reports on the progress of the U.S. Team and daily photo galleries, visit www.usacycling.org.

To watch all the action live on the internet, visit www.WCSN.com, the official home of all the UCI World Championships.

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