American Wins Pursuit Trial at Cycling Event

American Mike McCarthy won the individual pursuit on the opening day of the World Cycling Championship and Michael Hubner of East Germany set a world record in the professional indoor sprint.

Steve Hegg, also from the United States, was one minute behind McCarthy, who finished in 4 minutes, 31.44 seconds.

Hubner finished in 10.345 seconds, breaking the old mark of 10.459 seconds set by Australian Stephen Pate in 1989.

But Hubner’s new professional world mark was slower than the amateur world record of 10.123 seconds set by Nikolai Kovche of the Soviet Union in 1987, and slower than the top finishers in the amateur sprint preliminaries, also held today at the Green Dome indoor velodrome in Maebashi, 62 miles northwest of Tokyo.

East Germany’s Bill Huck placed first in the preliminaries of the amateur sprint in 10.153, while Curtis Harnett of Canada finished second in 10.271 seconds. East Germany’s Jens Fiedler was next in 10.278.

American Ken Carpenter came in fourth in 10.283 seconds.

A total of 43 riders competed in the men’s preliminaries, with 24 advancing to the next round.

In the women’s sprint preliminaries, Isabelle Gautheron of France took first place in 11.376 seconds. East Germany’s Annett Neumann was second in 11.406 seconds, followed by American Connie Young in 11.444 seconds.

All 23 riders in the women’s sprint are to compete in the final round Tuesday.

In the professional sprint preliminaries, Italian Claudio Golinelli was second in 10.357 seconds. Former world-record holder Australian Stephen Pate was third in 10.400 seconds.

Japan’s Hideyuki Matsui was fourth in 10.554 and American Nelson Vails was next in 10.672 as all 12 competitors advanced to the Tuesday’s final round.

The competition continues through Aug. 26.