Carson, Calif. (January 22, 2006)
Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.) and Becky Quinn (Team Spike/Quakertown, Pa.) joined forces to put forth a solid team effort and close out the L.A. World Cup at the ADT Event Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. with a 1-2 finish in the women's scratch race Sunday.

Hammer earned her second gold medal of the weekend after leading out a field of 19 riders for the final ten laps of the 10km race.

\"I got on the gas with about eight laps to go - that's perfect for me,\" explained Saturday's individual pursuit champion. \"The plan was for me to lead, but if an appropriate place came up, Becky was going to yell. It just happened that I hung in there for the win. She helped me out in the points race in Manchester and we decided to help whoever was in a situation for the win. It turns out that we got me in front and she was just going to sweep and yell if someone was coming. Going into turn three on the final lap, I didn't see anyone, so I just went.\"

After setting a track record in the individual pursuit on Saturday, Hammer relied on her strength in that event to carry her through to a win on Sunday. \"I only train for the pursuit. The points race and scratch race are just a bonus. I'm not a fan of the pack. Really, my only goal today was not to crash.\"

Quinn's silver medal effort was her second of the weekend after finishing second in Friday's 20km points race.

A five-medal performance for the American contingent this weekend largely puts to rests bad memories of a poor showing at the 2005 World Championships held here in March.

\"We had solid performances all around,\" claimed USA Cycling director of track programs Pat McDonough. \"We had personal bests by nearly all the riders, five medals and seven top-four performances. We were certainly in the hunt more than we have been in the recent past. The best thing here has been the attitude. That's where it all begins.\"

Americans were also in the medal hunt on Sunday in both the women's keirin and the team sprint.

After winning her first round heat and placing third in the second round, Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) breezed into the final of the women's keirin. But once there, Reed narrowly missed out on a medal in a photo finish among a solid field of six riders.

Reigning world champion Clara Sanchez (FRA) took the win ahead of Shuang Guo (CHN) and Elisa Frisoni (ITA).

The team sprint qualifying round featured two American teams. The Team Spike squad of Stephen Alfred (Capitola, Calif.), Ben Barczewski (Breinigsville, Pa.) and Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo.) fared the best of American squads, clocking a qualifying time of 46.397 to earn the fourth seed and a bronze medal match against Australia. Although they bettered their qualifying time and posted a 46.328, Team Spike missed out on the bronze as Australia turned in a time of 45.867.

The national team trio of Kevin Belz (Irving, Texas) Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif.) and Christian Stahl (Bethany, Conn.), clocked a time of 46.556 seconds to qualify sixth, but were eliminated from medal contention.

In the madison, the TIAA-CREF duo of Chad Hartely (Boulder, Colo.) and Michael Friedman (Boulder, Colo.) qualified for the final and placed ninth overall with seven points and minus two laps behind the gold medal team from Argentina.

The UCI Track World Cup circuit concludes the first weekend in March in Sydney, Australia.

UCI Track World Cup - Day Three Results

Women's Scratch Race   download (pdf)
1. HAMMER Sarah USA; 2. QUINN Becky USA; 3. ARUSTAMOVA Yulia RUS.

Men's Madison   download (pdf)
 1. COLLA Dario, PEREZ Walter ARG 7; 2. MOURIS Jens, TERPSTRA Niki NED 4; 3. IGNATIEV Mikhail, TRUSSOV Nikolay RUS 17,-1; 9. FRIEDMAN Michael. HARTLEY Chad USA 7, -2.

Men's Team Sprint    download (pdf)
1. BAUGE Grégory, BOURGAIN Mickaël, PERVIS François FRA; 2. KWIATKOWSKI Lukasz, SZYMANEK Krzysztof, ZIELINSKI Damian POL; 3. BAYLEY Ryan, KELLY Shane John, PERKINS Shane AUS; 4. ALFRED Stephen, BARCZEWSKI Benjamin, MASSIE Giddeon USA; 6. BELZ Kevin, BLATCHFORD Michael, STAHL Christian USA.

Women's Keirin   download (pdf)
1. SANCHEZ Clara FRA; 2. GUO Shuang CHN; 3. FRISONI Elisa ITA; 4. REED Jennie USA.

About USA Cycling
Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 54,000 members and 2,000 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men's road). For more information visit www.usacycling.org or contact, USA Cycling Director of Communications, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867.

About The Home Depot Center
The Home Depot Center is southern California's new home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The $150 million privately financed facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez (CSUDH) Hills in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, rugby, lacrosse & other athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, an 8,000-seat facility for track & field, the ADT Event Center (a 2,450-seat indoor velodrome for cycling) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is home of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) USA Tennis High Performance Training Center as well as the national team training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The complex is also the home of The David Beckham Academy for youth soccer, Andre Agassi's Safe Passage All-Stars at-risk youth tennis program and the nationally recognized Athletes' Performance training center for elite and professional athletes. The Home Depot Center has additionally been designated official training sites for USA Cycling, USA Track & Field and the USTA

This Article Published 2006-01-22 16:30:14 For more information contact Andy Lee: alee@usacycling.org