On track with some of the best riders in Brittany!
The final round of the Challenge Regional de la Piste 2014 was held last Saturday 21 June at the velodrome
Jacques Prigent in Pordic with the Keirin, Points race and Team Sprint counting towards the overall completion of
the track programme. For local cyclist Sabine Minchinton-Gilley who races for CC Plancoet and is also a JCA
Youth Academy member this was her first competition within this Challenge. Sabine has previously been
committed to racing in other events however next year she aims to be able to race in as many of the rounds of
this prestigious competition.
Track riders from all over Brittany attended and the standard was very high however this did not deter the young
rider from giving it a good go! Never having ridden a Keirin event behind a motorcycle did not prove
insurmountable as she rode a textbook strategy in her Heat to finish second to go through to the ‘A’ Final. In the
Keirin event riders take to the track behind a pacer motorcycle known as a derny. As the derny gradually
increases its pace the riders will jostle for position until with 2.5 laps to go to the finish the derny leaves the track,
unleashing a frenetic bunch gallop for the line. Physical contact between the riders is the norm and crashes are a
frequent occurrence in this exciting contest.
Being the only Minime (Youth B) to qualify for the ‘A’ Final Sabine was racing with girls two years older in the
Cadettes category (Youth A), including the Finistere Under 16 Sprint & Points Champion Amelie Chazal who will
graduate to Junior level next season. Chazal is a specialist track rider with great sprint ability and track
knowledge who finished second in the Brittany Track Championships this year. Sabine earned the respect of her
opponents with her display of speed, power and track craft, which she has had to adapt without having a local
velodrome in Jersey to perfect the skill and technique required.
The ‘A’ Final was just as exciting as the Heat with the addition of implementing a new strategy as Sabine had
drawn the 6 th position behind the motorcycle. This meant with the motorcycle pulling-off the track she needed to
be in a position nearer the front to contest the finish. Close contact riding was evident but she held her nerve and
was able to ride over the outside of the riders, even battling a headwind on the back straight, to unleash her
sprint to ‘duke’ it out with Chazal for the finish to take 2 nd place in what was a hotly contested final.
In addition to the Keirin the girls also took part in the Points race; this race can be one of the more confusing
races to watch. It is a race over a long distance. A sprint is held every few laps, with 5, 3, 2, and 1 points being
awarded to the top four finishers in each sprint. The winner of the race is the one to have the most points at the
end of the race. In addition to the sprints, any rider managing to lap the main field is awarded an extra 20 points.
This is therefore a popular way of gaining the points required to win the race and leads to many such attempts to
gain a lap during the race.
Different tactics can be employed to try and win the race. Some riders may sit back in the main bunch conserving
energy, only attacking for the sprints to gain points. Other riders may attempt to gain the lap early on in the race
and try and defend the advantage. The most common breakaways seen in the Points race are groups of two to
five riders, sharing the work to enable them to gain a lap. Sabine took the strategy of going for early Points and
marking specific riders. She collected points in two of the sprints to amass points to finish 5 th overall with the
pace taking its toll for the final sprint on her young legs.
Due to Sabine’s impressive debut she was invited to participate in the Team Sprint, which is what is essentially a
team time trial with a twist. At the end of each lap the leading rider in the team pulls off leaving their teammates to
continue until just one rider is left to complete the race on behalf of their team. The men race over 3 laps with
three riders, the women over 2 laps in teams of 2 however on Saturday the event consisted of three laps with
Sabine leading-out her team of Amelie Chazal and male Junior rider Morgane Le Champion, both very
experienced track riders. After a long, hot tiring afternoon Sabine was able to find energy to accelerate out of the
saddle building speed to enable team mates to draft in her slipstream before they in turn unleashed their sprint. A
team of three male riders won the Team Sprint.
Overall this was an exciting weekend, which essentially was a fact-finding expedition to assess what to expect in
2015, in conclusion the outcome was very positive and exciting for this emerging track rider.