Report and results from the opening day in Hong Kong which saw qualifying for the Team Pursuits, with rainbow jerseys awarded for the Women’s Scratch and the Team Sprint.
Women
Team Pursuit
Qualifying
Hong Kong set the fastest time in the opening heat of the Women’s Team Pursuit in front of the home crowd – Yao Pang, Qianyu Tang, Xiao Juan Daio and Bo Yee Leung setting the benchmark time of 4:35.949, a third of a second ahead of Germany.
Belgium topped that in the second heat – Lotte Kopecky, Gilke Croket, Annelies Dom and Kaat van der Meulen clocking 4:33.722. Their neighbours France took eight seconds off that in the next heat – Elize Delsenne, Laurie Berthon, Mariona Borras and Coralie Demay quickest after three heats on 4:25.788.
Neither Poland or China troubled France’s time but the next heat saw the top two positions change – the New Zealand quartet of Michaela Drummond, Racquel Sheath, Rushlee Buchanan and Jaimie Nielsen moving into second place with a 4:22.776 while Amy Cure, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Alexandra Manly and Rebecca Wiasak went top with a 4:18.659.
New Zealand slipped down to fourth as Steph Roorda, Jasmin Duehring, Laura Brown and Annie Foreman-Mackey went second with a 4:19.515 and Elsa Balsamo. Simona Frapporti, Francesca Pattaro and Silvia Valsecchi took over third after clocking 4:18.838 in the closest heat of the round.
Another fantastic ride from Kelly Katlin, Chloe Dygert,, Kimberly Geist and Jennifer Valente of the ride saw them top the leaderboard after the final heat – a second clear of the Aussies on 4:17.722. Eleanor Dickinson, Emil Kay, Manon Lloyd and Emily Nelson finished fifth on 4:21.48.
Results
1 USA (CATLIN Kelly, DYGERT Chloe, GEIST Kimberly, VALENTE Jennifer) 4:17.722
2 Australia (CURE Amy, ANKUDINOFF Ashlee, MANLY Alexandra, WIASAK Rebecca) 4:18.659
3 Canada (ROORDA Stephanie, DUEHRING Jasmin, BROWN Laura, FOREMAN-MACKEY Annie) 4:19.515
4 Italy  4:19.838 (BALSAMO Elisa, FRAPPORTI Simona, PATTARO Francesca, VALSECCHI Silvia)
5 Great Britain (DICKINSON Eleanor, KAY Emily, LLOYD Manon, NELSON Emily) 4:21.548
6 New Zealand (DRUMMOND Michaela, SHEATH Racquel, BUCHANAN Rushlee, NIELSEN Jaime) 4:22.776
7 France  (DELZENNE Elise, BERTHON Laurie, BORRAS Marion, DEMAY Coralie) 4:25.788
8 Poland (PIKULIK Daria, RUTKOWSKA Natalia, KACZKOWSKA Justyna, PLOSAJ Nikol) 4:28.523
9 China (LUO Xiaoling, CHEN Qiaolin, CHEN Siyu, HUANG Li) 4:32.55
10 Belgium (KOPECKY Lotte, CROKET Gilke, DOM Annelies, VAN DER MEULEN Kaat) 4:33.722
Team Sprint
Qualifying
Italy took the opening heat against India – Miriam Vece and Martina Fidanza clocking 34.579 to take the early lead – but they dropped to second immediately as Won Gyeong Kim and Hyejin Lee of Korea shaved off four tenths to go top on 34.115. Canada and Colombia went first and second after Heat 3 – Martha Bayona and Juliana Gaviria recording a time of 34.018, Kate O’Brien and Amelia Walsh a 33.703.
Australia and the Netherlands repeated the trick in the next heat – Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton going top on 32.785 and Shanne Brsapennincx and Kyra Lamberink second on 33.582. The penultimate heat saw Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte of Germany sneak past Australia with a 32.356, while Shuang Guo and Junhonh Lin of China moved into third on 33.428.
That just left Daria Shmeleva and Anastasiia Voinova of Russia and Tania Calco and Helena Casas of Spain. Surprisingly, the Russians could only manage third on 32.962, with the Spanish taking fifth on 33.562.
Results
1 Germany (VOGEL Kristina, WELTE Miriam) 32.356
2 Australia (MCCULLOCH Kaarle, MORTON Stephanie) 32.785
3 Russia (SHMELEVA Daria, VOINOVA Anastasiia) 32.962
4 China (GUO Shuang, LIN Junhong) 33.428
5 Spain (CALVO BARBERO Tania, CASAS ROIGE Helena) 33.562
6 Netherlands (BRASPENNINCX Shanne, LAMBERINK Kyra) 33.582
7 Canada (O’BRIEN Kate, WALSH Amelia) 33.703
8 Colombia (BAYONA PINEDA Martha, GAVIRIA RENDON Juliana) 34.018
9 Mexico (SALAZAR VALLES Jessica, VERDUGO OSUNA Yuli) 34.072
10 Korea (KIM Won Gyeong, LEE Hyejin) 34.115
First Round
The first of the First Round heats went to form with China improving by a couple of tenths to pip Spain to the first qualification spot. Third fastest Russia faced the Netherlands, who had qualified 6th – and improved by half a second to take the second qualification spot.
In Heat 3, Australia also improved by three tenths to eliminate Canada. Their time put Russia into the Gold medal ride and China into the ride for Bronze. Australia’s fate was in the hands of Germany and Colombia and, unlike the other three heat winners, the Germans were three tenths slower than they had been in qualifying – putting them into the Bronze medal ride and guaranteeing at least a Silver for Australia.
Results
Heat 1
1 China (GUO Shuang, LIN Junhong) 33.289 Qualified for Bronze
2 Spain (CALVO BARBERO Tania, CASAS ROIGE Helena) 33.653
Heat 2
1 Russia (SHMELEVA Daria, VOINOVA Anastasiia) 32.456 Qualified for Gold
2 Netherlands (LAMBERINK Kyra, VAN RIESSEN Laurine) 33.580
Heat 3
1 Australia (MCCULLOCH Kaarle, MORTON Stephanie) 32.570 Qualified for Gold
2 Canada (WALSH Amelia, O’BRIEN Kate) 33.563
Heat 4
1 Germany (WELTE Miriam, VOGEL Kristina) 32.668 Qualified for Bronze
2 Colombia (GAVIRIA RENDON Juliana, BAYONA PINEDA Martha) 33.791
Finals
Russia used the new three race format to their advantage – Daria Shmeleva and Anastasiia Voinova pulling off a third ride within a couple of hundredths of their fastest of the day – while Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton were a tenth off their best. It was enough to give Russia, who had qualified third, the Gold Medal.
Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte of Germany weren’t able to repeat their qualifying performance, but they had over a second in hand over Shuang Guo and Junhong Lin as they secured the Bronze.
Results
Final for Gold
GOLD Russia (SHMELEVA Daria, VOINOVA Anastasiia) 32.520
SILVER Australia (MCCULLOCH Kaarle, MORTON Stephanie 32.649
Final for Bronze
BRONZE Germany (WELTE Miriam, VOGEL Kristina) 32.609
4 China (GUO Shuang, LIN Junhong) 33.309
Scratch Race
A group of six riders came together in the final third of the race and took a lap on the field. They were close enough to the finish by the time they joined the back of the bunch and, fortunately for the crowd, there was enough quality in the break that they moved straight to the front of the bunch and began to position themselves for the final sprint.
It was Elinor Barker of Great Britain who took the initiative and drove the leading riders through the bunch to take their place at the head of the race – and it was Barker and Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands who drove the race on, while Jolien D’Hoore of Belgium, Sarah Hammer of the USA, Jasmin Duehring of Canada and Rachele Barbieri of Italy jostling behind them.
Nobody was going to get an advantage and as the bunch spread at for the final sprint it was Barbieri on the front of the arrow head with Barker to her right and D’Hoore to her left. There wasn’t much between the Belgian and the Brit – Barker just edging the Silver medal – but Barbieri was the clear – and delighted – winner.
Results
GOLD BARBIERI Rachele ITA
SILVER BARKER Elinor GBR
BRONZE D’HOORE Jolien BEL
4 HAMMER Sarah USA
5 WILD Kirsten NED
6 DUEHRING Jasmin CAN
7 HUANG Li CHN -1
8 DIAO Xiao Juan HKG -1
9 CLONAN Kristina AUS -1
10 FOURNIER Roxane FRA -1
Men
Team Pursuit
Qualifying
Roy Eefing, Dion Beukeboom, Roy Pieters and Jan Willem van Schip of the Netherlands had the disadvantage of riding alone in the opening heat but a 4:03.273 gave them an outside chance of making the top four.
Neither Spain nor Belarus could top the Dutch time in the second heat – nor could Germany or Hong Kong in the third. But the drama of the round came in heat four.
The promising young Canadian quartet of Aidan Caves, Adam Jamieson, Jay Lamoureux and Bayley Simpson – who took a World Cup Silver in Glasgow and then Gold n Apeldoorn – were overhauled by New Zealand at round the three quarter mark and, having stayed down during the initial phase of the pass, they misjudged the end – the front rider clipping the last Kiwi’s rear wheel as he pulled up to change, taking the whole squad down.
Amazingly, the Kiwis all stayed up and Regan Gough, Pieter Bulling, Dylan Kennett and Nicholas Kegozou went on to set the fastest time so far at 3:53.577.
Russia couldn’t quite match that, but Viktor Manakov, Alexander Evtushenko, Alexey Kurbatov and Sergei Shilov saw off Denmark and clocked 3:38.597 to go second.
The Belgian squad of Lindsay de Vylder, Kenny de Ketele, Moreno de Pauw and Robbe Ghys went third with a 3:39.951, only to drop to fifth immediately as Benjamin Thomas, Thomas Denis, Corentin Ermenault and Florian Maitre went second with 3:6.357.
In the penultimate heat, Claudio Imhof, Olivier Beer, Frank Pasche and Cyrille Thiery took sixth with a 4:00.480 and Italy’s Simon Consonni, Liam Vertazzo, Filippo Ganna and Frencesco Lamon went second on 3:33.755.
Red hot favourites Sam Welsford, Cameron Meyer, Kelland O’Brien and Alexander Porter were on World Record pace for Australia for most of their heat with Great Britain, but just missed out – setting the fastest time of the day at 3:53.422. Steven Burke, Kian Emadi, Andy Tennant and Oliver Wood clocked 3:58.936 to finish fifth.
Results
1 Australia (WELSFORD Sam, MEYER Cameron, O’BRIEN Kelland, PORTER Alexander) 3:50.577
2 New Zealand (GOUGH Regan, BULLING Pieter, KENNETT Dylan, KERGOZOU Nicholas) 3:53.422
3 Italy (CONSONNI Simone, BERTAZZO Liam, GANNA Filippo, LAMON Francesco) 3:55.755
4 France (THOMAS Benjamin, DENIS Thomas, ERMENAULT Corentin, MAITRE Florian) 3:56.357
5 Great Britain (BURKE Steven, EMADI Kian, TENNANT Andrew, WOOD Oliver) 3:58.936
6 Russia (MANAKOV Viktor, EVTUSHENKO Alexander, KURBATOV Alexey, SHILOV Sergei) 3:58.957
7 Belgium (DE VYLDER Lindsay, , DE KETELE Kenny, DE PAUW Moreno, GHYS Robbe) 3:59.951
8 Switzerland 4:00.480 (IMHOF Claudio, BEER Olivier, PASCHE Frank, THIERY Cyrille)
9 Poland (SAJNOK Szymon, BANASZEK Alan, STANISZEWSKI Daniel, TEKLINSKI Adrian) 4:02.219
10 Denmark (LARSEN Niklas, JOHANSEN Julius, MADSEN Frederik, VON FOLSACH Casper) 4:02.443
First Round
Russia and Belgium qualified 6th and 7th – just inside the four minute barrier – and couldn’t quite match that in the First Round. In theory, a place in the Bronze medal ride was still on offer; in practice it looked likely to go elsewhere.
Fifth place Great Britain were another squad just over a second under four minutes in qualifying – Switzerland half a second over it. In the second of the First Round heats, Great Britain switched in Chris Latham for Kian Emadi and improved by over two seconds to 3:56.796 while the Swiss matched their earlier qualifying time to within a couple of hundredths.
Despite the improvement, the GB time was within a whisker of fourth placed France and a second off Italy’s in third. Italy faced second fastest qualifier New Zealand in Heat 3 and the Kiwis were a second off their qualifying pace but Italy also slipped by a couple of tenths. The win was enough to guarantee the Kiwis a place in the Gold Medal rider – and Italy’s time was enough to guarantee them a ride for Bronze. Great Britain would have to wait another four minutes to know if their ride had been good enough.
The winner of the final heat was never in doubt. Australia didn’t need to get anywhere near their qualifying performance to make the Final – they had six seconds on France and they eased off to take the win over three and a half seconds slower than their earlier ride – but France faded by a similar amount, failing to break the four minute barrier and handing Great Britain a Bronze medal ride.
Results
Heat 1
1 Russia 4:00.780 (MANAKOV Viktor, EVTUSHENKO Alexander, KULIKOV Vladislav, KURBATOV Alexey)
2 Belgium (DE KETELE Kenny, DE PAUW Moreno, GHYS Robbe, THIJSSEN Gerben) 4:01.727
Heat 2
1 Great Britain (LATHAM Christopher, TENNANT Andrew, WOOD Oliver, STEWART Mark) 3:56.796 Qualified for Bronze
2 Switzerland 4:00.405 (IMHOF Claudio, PERIZZOLO Loic, THIERY Cyrille, PASCHE Frank)
Heat 3
1 New Zealand (GOUGH Regan, BULLING Pieter, KENNETT Dylan, KERGOZOU Nicholas) 3:54.363 Qualified for Gold
2 Italy (CONSONNI Simone, SCARTEZZINI Michele, BERTAZZO Liam, GANNA Filippo) 3:55.945 Qualified for Bronze
Heat 4
1 Australia (WELSFORD Sam, O’BRIEN Kelland, PORTER Alexander, WIGHT Rohan) 3:54.125 Qualified for Gold
2 France (THOMAS Benjamin, DENIS Thomas, ERMENAULT Corentin, MAITRE Florian) 4:00.198
Team Sprint
Qualifying
Canada took the early lead – Stefan Ritter, Hugo Barrette and Patrice St Louis Pivin setting a time of 45.772 in their opening heat against Mexico. The Netherlands trio of Theo Bos, Jeffrey Hoogland and Nils van ‘t Hoenderdaal knocked them off top spot in Heat 2 with a 43.970 – a time neither Spain or Japan could better in Heat 3.
China could, though – Jianxin Li, Yongjia Lu and Chao Xu going almost a tenth faster with a 43.878. Heat 5 saw Australia record a time despite problems for Belarus – Matthew Glaetzer, Nathan Hart and Jacob Schmidt going third with a 44.136.
Benjamin Edelin, Quentin Lafargue and Sebastien Vigier smashed that with a 43.390 to go top and, in the penultimate heat, Jack Carlin, Joe Truman and Ryan Owens went second for Great Britain with a 43.416.
Maciej Bielecki, Krzysztof Maksel and Mateusz Rudyk of Poland were just three thousandths of a second off Great Britain’s time in the final heat – which would leave them fourth after Eddie Dawkins, Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster topped the timings with a 43.267.
Results
1 New Zealand (DAWKINS Edward, MITCHELL Ethan, WEBSTER Sam) 43.267
2 France (EDELIN Benjamin, LAFARGUE Quentin, VIGIER Sebastien) 43.390
3 Great Britain 43.416 (CARLIN Jack, OWENS Ryan, TRUMAN Joseph)
4 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, MAKSEL Krzysztof, RUDYK Mateusz) 43.419
5 China (LI Jianxin, LUO Yongjia, XU Chao) 43.878
6 Netherlands (BOS Theo, HOOGLAND Jeffrey, VAN ‘T HOENDERDAAL Nils) 43.970
7 Australia (GLAETZER Matthew, HART Nathan, SCHMID Jacob) 44.136
8 Japan (NAGASAKO Yoshitaku, NITTA Yudai, WATANABE Kazunari) 44.363
9 Czech Republic (BABEK Tomas, KELEMEN Pavel, SOJKA David) 44.606
10 Spain (MARTINEZ CHORRO Alejandro, MORENO SANCHEZ Jose, PERALTA GASCON Juan) 44.695
First Round
The first heat of the First Round was, eventually, run last after a very focused China team failed to hear the guns and whistles – or see the waving coaches and officials – after a false start. Poland were four tenths faster in qualifying – and eight tenths faster this time round.
The Netherlands put in a super ride in Heat 2 – improving by half a second as Harrie Levareysen replaced Theo Bos and Matthijs Buchli replaced Jeffrey Hoogland – with Great Britain two tenths off their earlier pace and out of the competition.
Heat 3 saw France – who had qualified second fastest – three tenths off their qualifying pace – despite brining in Francois Pervis for Quentin Lafargue – and seventh fastest Australia four tenths up, but it was too big a gap to close and the French had a tenth in hand to take them through – albeit two tenths behind the Netherlands.
New Zealand were just over a second faster than Japan in qualifying and almost exactly a second faster in the First Round. They became the first team to qualify for Gold – with Poland’s subsequent ride against China ensuring that Poland would meet France in the Bronze medal ride, with the Netherlands qualifying for the Gold medal ride from 6th place.
Results
Heat 1
1 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, RUDYK Mateusz, MAKSEL Krzysztof) 43.834 Qualified for Bronze
2 China (LI Jianxin, LUO Yongjia, XU Chao) 44.654
Heat 2
1 Netherlands (VAN ‘T HOENDERDAAL Nils, LAVREYSEN Harrie, BUCHLI Matthijs) 43.481 Qualified for Gold
2 Great Britain (CARLIN Jack, OWENS Ryan, TRUMAN Joseph) 43.666
Heat 3
1 France (EDELIN Benjamin, VIGIER Sebastien, PERVIS Francois) 43.645 Qualified for Bronze
2 Australia (HART Nathan, GLAETZER Matthew, CONSTABLE Patrick) 43.736
Heat 4
1 New Zealand (MITCHELL Ethan, WEBSTER Sam, DAWKINS Edward) 43.183 Qualified for Gold
2 Japan (NAGASAKO Yoshitaku, NITTA Yudai, WATANABE Kazunari) 44.158
Finals
A false start seemed to unnerve the Kiwis, with the third Netherlands line-up of Hoogland, Lavreysen and Buchli taking a half second lead on the opening lap. Ethan Mitchell handed over Sam Webster, who clawed back a couple of tenths, but Eddie Dawkins still had a 0.48 second deficit to make up. Not only did he make up the deficit, he pulled out another three tenths to win this incredible Kiwi trio yet another World Championship.
Lafargue returned for France and they were a tenth quicker – which was almost exactly the margin they had over Poland as they took the Bronze.
Results
Final for Gold
GOLD New Zealand (MITCHELL Ethan, WEBSTER Sam, DAWKINS Edward) 44.049
SILVER Netherlands (HOOGLAND Jeffrey, LAVREYSEN Harrie, BUCHLI Matthijs) 44.382
Final for Bronze
BRONZE France (EDELIN Benjamin, VIGIER Sebastien, LAFARGUE Quentin) 43.536
4 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, SARNECKI Rafal, RUDYK Mateusz) 43.698
