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Pendleton and Hoy win gold at nationals • Pendleton beats young field to win 500m time trial• Hoy takes gold in team sprint on his returnSir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton began their winter track seasons in style tonight with gold medal‑winning rides on the first evening of the national track championships.Hoy featured in the semi-final and final of the team sprint for Sky Track Cycling together with Matt Crampton, Jason Kenny and Ross Edgar while Pendleton raced to her eighth title in nine years in the women's 500m time trial. The evening's other championship, the women's Madison, went to Hannah Barnes and Hannah Walker, riding for the Motorpoint team.Not having competed since the world championships in March, Hoy admitted afterwards that he had felt a little ring-rusty but he has opted to continue gym work through the championships rather than backing off as he did last year."It's my first race in six months. To be honest the first ride was pretty awful, the second was better," he said. "It was a shock to the system. You put in 100% in training but in competition you always find a bit extra. Last year I went really fast early; this time I'm taking a more considered approach."The race itself could not have gone more smoothly for Sky with Kenny, Edgar and Crampton qualifying fastest, Kenny, Hoy and Edgar overtaking the North-West region – who had started half a lap ahead – in the semi-final, and Kenny, Hoy and Crampton sealing gold against Hoy's old club, the City of Edinburgh RC, in the final.However, the idea was to experiment with different line-ups: Kenny is established as starter, while Hoy is likely to race Man Two, with Crampton anchoring the trio for the opening part of the season, while Edgar rests up after the Commonwealth Games. "I think Man Two is the most likely slot for me," said Hoy, who raced Man Three at the Beijing Olympics, where Kenny was Man Two."Jason is the best starter so we need someone who is fast enough to do a good second lap, because when he is on song, posting 17.1 and 17.2sec laps, he can cause a lot of damage. My big goal now is to improve my start so I can absorb his effort."Hoy revealed today he is unlikely to ride the keirin at the European championships in November because Great Britain have already qualified for a world championship place thanks to his gold medal in March in Copenhagen. "Someone else will get a chance and, if they win, we will qualify a second place." One hint of who that could be will come on Saturday, when Hoy, Edgar, Crampton and Kenny contest the keirin here.Hoy feels the world championship qualification system is perverse, as it gives no incentive to the best riders to ride every race, and he is disillusioned with the attitude of the International Cycling Union towards track racing."It seems they are set on destroying the sport," he said. "I don't think any decisions are made with the athletes in mind. They don't seem to understand the sport. It's as if track is an inconvenient add-on behind road cycling."Pendleton is taking a measured approach to her season as well, with the goal of using this winter to build her core fitness before adding extra speed before London. Yesterday she was in the gym, squatting a personal best weight of 132.5kg, and today in the 500m time trial, three days before her 30th birthday, she swatted away the challenge of the two teenagers who will push her all the way to London, 18-year-old Becky James from Abergavenny and 19-year-old Jess Varnish from Bromsgrove.James recently won an under-23 world title and is peaking for the Commonwealth Games so she was a fraction sharper than Varnish, who is building for the European championships.Over the two laps James's time of 35.254sec for silver was a personal best, but Pendleton was over 0.6sec faster with 34.636sec as she raced to the 27th national title of her career, 25 of which have come in the sprint events – keirin, match, team sprint and 500m – while two are in the Derny motorpaced."I haven't got a lot of speed and I didn't have a lot to give but I gave it all," said Pendleton. "I feel shocking as I haven't worked on speed or intensity."Today she and Hoy will take a rest but Varnish and James will join up for the women's team sprint, riding for North-West region, while Team Sky field a strong quartet led by Ben Swift and Geraint Thomas in the men's scratch.CyclingWilliam Fotheringhamguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Brewers confirm Macha being let go By COLIN FLY 2010-10-04T17:07:06ZMILWAUKEE (AP) -- Ken Macha will not return as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, who have not made decisions about his staff.... hosted.ap.org |
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Denny Hamlin trims Johnson's lead with Martinsville victory Shortly after proving he could close out a Sprint Cup race, Denny Hamlin showed he knows a little about an opening salvo, too. "Who said it was ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |