After a strong start to the UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, the United States has hit a rough patch on the track.
Wednesday Sarah Hammer returned to competition for the first time this year and won the individual pursuit beating Wendy Houvennaghel of Great Britain with a time of 3:27.826
The following day Taylor Phinney took the gold in the individual pursuit besting his Livestrong road teammate Jesse Sergent from New Zealand. Phinney is the defending champion in this discipline and beat Kiwi rider by just less than two seconds.
However the American team has since had to deal with a disqualification of one of their riders and a crash by another.
Two-time Olympian and reigning USA Cycling kilo national champion Giddeon Massie was disqualified from the men's kilometer time trial for what officials sited as “non-horizontal arms.” Had his time of 103.205 held it would have put him in 16th place. Teun Mulder of the Netherlands took the kilo world title with a time of 1:00.341.
In the woman's scratch race 29-year old Shelley Evans crashed with just five laps remaining. While her injuries were not extensive she is questionable for Sunday’s points race. Evans, who earned the silver in the scratch race in the second round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup this season, was one of a half dozen riders involved in the collision. Frenchwoman Pascale Jeuland went on to win the gold ahead of Cuba’s Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso and Belinda Goss of Australia.
Sarah Hammer has another chance for gold in the five-race women’s omnium tomorrow. Daniel Holloway and Colby Pearce partner to contest the men’s Madison on Saturday.
The United States trails Australia in the gold medal count and is tied for sixth in the overall medal tally.