Emile wins two bronze medals at track Nats
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:26 am
Sometime Tripleshotter Emile de Rosnay surprised himself, the field and even the announcer with a strong ride in the senior men's points race in the National Track Championships at the Burnaby velodrome Saturday afternoon. He and another BC rider lapped the field in the first third of the race, forcing Olympian Zach Bell (7th in Beijing) to chase on his own to stay in the same lap. Bell went on to lap the field again later, while Emile then was forced to chase like a madman to stay close to the other two, and not lose too many points, or a lap, to the riders behind him. It seemed to me like wherever Emile rode, someone opened a gap in front of him that he had to close by himself, making the whole race a suffer-fest for him.
Showing it wasn't a fluke, Emile teamed up with Vancouver based former Ontarian Adam Thuss (red truck) to take third in the madison tonight (to be confirmed when official results out later). This time the pair broke away after about a third of the 160 (!) laps and racked up enough points to hold third and challenge for second behind winners Bell and Schwingboth. And once again Emile did it the hard way, following their successful two sprint break (ie away long enough to win two sprints worth of points) with a crucial missed relay that required a very long turn for his teammate and a long chase to catch the pack. As well, they didn't know who was near them in points and once towed their challengers up to other breaks (not unusual in madisons; you need a sharp accountant to keep track of points), and finally mistiming a late attack that nearly saw them off the back in the final sprint, but clinging on for a crucial final point. But they did it! What was is it Neitzche said about whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?
Emile also finished 8th in the keirin. Emile noted that his worst result was in his specialty, the pursuit.
Showing it wasn't a fluke, Emile teamed up with Vancouver based former Ontarian Adam Thuss (red truck) to take third in the madison tonight (to be confirmed when official results out later). This time the pair broke away after about a third of the 160 (!) laps and racked up enough points to hold third and challenge for second behind winners Bell and Schwingboth. And once again Emile did it the hard way, following their successful two sprint break (ie away long enough to win two sprints worth of points) with a crucial missed relay that required a very long turn for his teammate and a long chase to catch the pack. As well, they didn't know who was near them in points and once towed their challengers up to other breaks (not unusual in madisons; you need a sharp accountant to keep track of points), and finally mistiming a late attack that nearly saw them off the back in the final sprint, but clinging on for a crucial final point. But they did it! What was is it Neitzche said about whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?
Emile also finished 8th in the keirin. Emile noted that his worst result was in his specialty, the pursuit.
