Report and results from the third day of competition at the Hong Kong velodrome.
Men
Sprint
Qualifying
The 200m Time Trial saw 33 riders competing for 28 places in the Sprint competition – the top four receiving byes to the 1/8 Final. Former World Champion and World Record holder Francois Pervis was first on the track and set the standard with a 9.948, in a session that would see 19 riders break the magical 10 second barrier.
Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands was next up and, impressively, he immediately moved the mark to 9.832. Newly crowned Keirin World Champion Azizul Awang of Malaysia just failed to go under 10 seconds – by 57 hundredths – but would progress to the round of 16.
Team Sprint World Champion Ethan Mitchell put himself in pole position for a bye with a 9.767 – his two team mates Eddie Dawkins (9.996) and Sam Webster (9.879) would also make it through.
Mitchell’s time lasted to the half way point, when Max Niedelag of Germany shaved a tenth off to go top on a 10.665 – a position which which he still held with just four riders left to go. Sebastian Vigier of France had slotted in between Niederlag and Mitchell with a 9.753 and Matt Glaetzer of Australia was currently occupying the all-important fourth place on 9.815 – but Denis Dmitriev of Russia went straight to the top of the pile with an impressive 9.645.
The remaining three riders – Kamil Kuczynski of Poland, Andrii Vynokurov of Ukrain and Pavel Yakusheskiy of Russia all went under 10 seconds but Vynokurov’s 9.870 was only good enough for 8th, behind Ryan Owens of Great Britain on 9.865.
Results
1 DMITRIEV Denis RUS 9.645
2 NIEDERLAG Max GER 9.665
3 VIGIER Sebastien FRA 9.753
4 MITCHELL Ethan NZL 9.767
5 GLAETZER Matthew AUS 9.815
6 LAVREYSEN Harrie NED 9.832
7 OWENS Ryan GBR 9.865
8 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR 9.870
9 WEBSTER Sam NZL 9.879
10 BARRETTE Hugo CAN 9.892
11 KUCZYNSKI Kamil POL 9.895
12 YAKUSHEVSKIY Pavel RUS 9.911
13 PERVIS Francois FRA 9.948
14 LENDEL Vasilijus LTU 9.958
15 SKINNER Callum GBR 9.969
16 CONSTABLE Patrick AUS 9.975
17 PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando COL 9.982
18 XU Chao CHN 9.991
19 DAWKINS Edward NZL 9.996
20 KELEMEN Pavel CZE 10.003
21 SARNECKI Rafal POL 10.005
22 TJON EN FA Jair SUR 10.038
23 AWANG Mohd Azizulhasni MAS 10.057
24 BOS Theo NED 10.061
25 PERALTA GASCON Juan ESP 10.083
26 ENGLER Eric GER 10.083
27 SZALONTAY Sandor HUN 10.084
28 RAMIREZ MORALES Santiago COL 10.105
1/16 finals
As is often the case, there were few surprises in the opening round of sudden death sprints. Only Suriname’s Jair Tjon En Fa was able to overcome his qualifying position – knocking out Kuczynski – with all the other heats going to the faster rider from qualification.
Results
Heat 1
1 GLAETZER Matthew AUS *
2 RAMIREZ MORALES Santiago COL +0.143
Heat 2
1 LAVREYSEN Harrie NED *
2 SZALONTAY Sandor HUN +0.719
Heat 3
1 OWENS Ryan GBR *
2 ENGLER Eric GER +0.178
Heat 4
1 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR *
2 PERALTA GASCON Juan ESP +0.038
Heat 5
1 WEBSTER Sam NZL *
2 BOS Theo NED +0.120
Heat 6
1 BARRETTE Hugo CAN *
2 AWANG Mohd Azizulhasni MAS +0.180
Heat 7
1 TJON EN FA Jair SUR *
2 KUCZYNSKI Kamil POL +0.264
Heat 8
1 YAKUSHEVSKIY Pavel RUS *
2 SARNECKI Rafal POL +0.032
Heat 9
1 PERVIS Francois FRA *
2 KELEMEN Pavel CZE +0.135
Heat 10
1 DAWKINS Edward NZL *
2 LENDEL Vasilijus LTU +0.237
Heat 11
1 SKINNER Callum GBR *
2 XU Chao CHN +0.038
Heat 12
1 CONSTABLE Patrick AUS *
2 PUERTA ZAPATA Fabian Hernando COL +0.205
1/8 Finals
The four fastest qualifiers entered the competition and three of the four – Dmitriev, Niederlag and Mitchell – progressed to the Quarter Finals – with Vigier losing out to Dawkins. Webster also beat faster opposition, eliminating Vynokurov to ensure that all three Kiwis went through – and, amazingly, the all managed to avoid each other in the Quarter Finals.
The other heats saw Lavreysen, Glaetzer and Owens progress – with six of the last eight having qualified in the top eight – only Dawkins and Webster bucking the trend.
Results
Heat 1
1 DMITRIEV Denis RUS *
2 CONSTABLE Patrick AUS +0.632
Heat 2
1 NIEDERLAG Max GER *
2 SKINNER Callum GBR +0.070
Heat 3
1 DAWKINS Edward NZL *
2 VIGIER Sebastien FRA +0.011
Heat 4
1 MITCHELL Ethan NZL *
2 PERVIS Francois FRA +1.890
Heat 5
1 GLAETZER Matthew AUS *
2 YAKUSHEVSKIY Pavel RUS +0.128
Heat 6
1 LAVREYSEN Harrie NED *
2 TJON EN FA Jair SUR +0.109
Heat 7
1 OWENS Ryan GBR *
2 BARRETTE Hugo CAN +0.062
Heat 8
1 WEBSTER Sam NZL *
2 VYNOKUROV Andrii UKR +0.074
Individual Pursuit
Qualifying
Kersten Theile of Germany set the early pace with a4:20.052 in the opening heat – which Russia’s Alexander Evtushenko bettered in heat 3 with a 4:19.185. That time was blown away in heat four when Jordan Kerby of Australia got within two seconds of compatriot Jack Bobridge’s World Record with a 4:12.172.
Nobody came close to that until heat 8 when another Australian, Kelland O’Brien clocked 4:15.794. The final heat saw the outgoing World Champion Fillippo Ganna up against France’s Corentin Ermenault. The Frenchman’s time of 4:17.543 was good enough to give him a crack at the Bronze medal, but Ganna’s 4:14.647 set up a very exciting final.
Results
1 KERBY Jordan AUS 4:12.172
2 GANNA Filippo ITA 4:14.647
3 O’BRIEN Kelland AUS 4:15.794
4 ERMENAULT Corentin FRA 4:17.543
5 EVTUSHENKO Alexander RUS 4:19.185
6 OLIVEIRA Ivo POR 4:19.250
7 STANISZEWSKI Daniel POL 4:19.411
8 BEUKEBOOM Dion NED 4:19.621
9 THIELE Kersten GER 4:20.052
10 SHEMETAU Mikhail BLR 4:20.363
Finals
In the Bronze medal ride, Ermenault couldn’t get close to his earlier pace, dropping to seconds to 4:19.436. O’Brien was down, too – but not by nearly as much, taking the Bronze with a 4:16.909.
The first run of the Final was aborted when a fault with the electronic starter pistol caused it to go off during the racing – causing Ganna to abort and then resume his effort. Although Kerby had continued, the commisaires had no choice but to abort the race.
We’ll never how that original race might have unfolded, but it seems unlikely that the result would have been any different. Both men were well off their qualifying pace, but Kerby lead from start to finish – a second and a half quicker over the opening kilometre – a lead which held steady to the half way mark and had almost doubled with four to go. By the end, the margin was four seconds with Kerby coming home in 4:17.068.
Results
GOLD KERBY Jordan AUS 4:17.068
SILVER GANNA Filippo ITA 4:21.299
BRONZE O’BRIEN Kelland AUS 4:16.909
4 ERMENAULT Corentin FRA 4:19.436
Points Race
Australia’s Cameron Meyer completely dominated the Men’s Points Race – taking two laps and looking as though he could take another whenever he wanted. He also bagged five sprints along the way – plus three second places and a third.
The race for the title was over with three sprints to go, but the race for the Silver went down to the wire. Wojciech Pszczolarski of Poland was in the Silver medal position and had been sitting on the shoulder of third placed Belgian rider Kenny De Ketele who was ten points behind with two sprints to go when Niklas Larsen of Denmark went away. Larsen was eight points back, and managed to reduce that to six with a third place in the penultimate sprint as Regan Gough of New Zealand and Meyer swept past to take the win.
Then with two to go De Ketele lit the afterburners and was gone. He took the double points final sprint and the Silver medal – tied on points with the Pole, but ahead by virtue of finishing position. Second for Larsen would have lifted him to the same number of points and the Bronze medal, but he couldn’t quite get there – finishing fifth and leaving Pszczolarski to roll over the line in 12th and take the Bronze.
Results
GOLD MEYER Cameron AUS 76
SILVER DE KETELE Kenny BEL 40
BRONZE PSZCZOLARSKI Wojciech POL 40
4 LARSEN Niklas DEN 34
5 GOUGH Regan NZL 20
6 KNEISKY Morgan FRA 16
7 STEWART Mark GBR 11
8 IMHOF Claudio SUI 9
9 LOVASSY Krisztian HUN 8
10 DOWNEY Mark IRL 6
Women
Omnium
I – Scratch Race
The opening race of the Women’s Omnium saw three of the four pre-race favourites at the head of the field with Katie Archibald of Great Britain edging out Amy Cure of Australia and Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands. The other likely contender, Sarah Hammer of the USA was down in 7th.
Results
1 ARCHIBALD Katie GBR
2 CURE Amy AUS
3 WILD Kirsten NED
4 BALSAMO Elisa ITA
5 FOURNIER Roxane FRA
6 PIKULIK Daria POL
7 HAMMER Sarah USA
8 KOPECKY Lotte BEL
9 DRUMMOND Michaela NZL
10 PAVLENDOVA Alzbeta SVK
II – Tempo Race
The alteration of the rules to the Tempo Race – upping the number of points for a lap gain from 5 to 20 – has had a positive effect and encouraged nine riders to bridge the gap to the bunch. Daria Pikulik of Poland made a tactical error, joining straight on to the back as the rest of the group backed off to start racking up points.
Archibald, Hammer and Stephanie Roorda of Canada took the bulk of them – four for the Scot, three each for Hammer and Roorda – with Cure, Wild and Elisa Balsamo of Italy each bagging a brace. That gave Archibald here second win of the event, with Hammer improving her overall position in second.
Results
1 ARCHIBALD Katie GBR 24
2 HAMMER Sarah USA 23
3 ROORDA Stephanie 23
4 CURE Amy AUS 22
5 WILD Kirsten NED 22
6 BALSAMO Elisa ITA 22
7 KAJIHARA Yumi JPN 21
8 DRUMMOND Michaela NZL 20
9 PIKULIK Daria POL 20
10 BOYLAN Lydia IRL 7
III – Elimination
After her third place in the Tempo race, Steph Roorda’s Omnium ended when she crashed spectacularly in the Elimination – caught up in an accident involving Yumi Kajihara of Japan and Olivija Baleistye of Lithuania after just two eliminations.
Balsamo was the first of the front runners to go out with 10 to go – while Hammer found herself boxed in with nowhere to go to leave five in the race. Luckily for her medal chances, Archibald was the net to go – with the final sprint seeing Cure drop Wild to take her first win of the competition.
Results
1 CURE Amy AUS
2 WILD Kirsten NED
3 PIKULIK Daria POL
4 KOPECKY Lotte BEL
5 ARCHIBALD Katie GBR
6 HAMMER Sarah USA
7 FOURNIER Roxane FRA
8 USABIAGA BALERDI Ana ESP
9 KLIMCHENKO Tetyana UKR
10 DRUMMOND Michaela NZL
IV – Points Race
The Points Race started with Archibald and Cure tied on 112 points with Wild in third, six points behind and Hammer in fourth on 96.
Archibald got off the mark in the opening sprint to put a tiny amount of daylight between herself and Cure – and then took the second to open the gap a little more – despite Cure taking fourth. She then marked the Australian for most of the rest of the race – only looking vulnerable at about half way when she seemed to be struggling and slightly detached from the group and only just got back on as the bell went for a sprint. It looked as though she might get dropped again, but the sprint was half-hearted and she held on.
As the race progressed, she found her second win and was back on Cure’s shoulder – taking points in the last two Sprints – with Wild taking the penultimate one to move into the Silver medal position but Archibald’s Gold was secure – and Cure hung on for Bronze.
Results
GOLD ARCHIBALD Katie GBR 123
SILVER WILD Kirsten NED 115
BRONZE CURE Amy AUS 115
4 PIKULIK Daria POL 110
5 HAMMER Sarah USA 102
6 KOPECKY Lotte BEL 96
7 BALSAMO Elisa ITA 87
8 DRUMMOND Michaela NZL 76
9 BOYLAN Lydia IRL 76
10 FOURNIER Roxane FRA 72
Sprint
Semi Finals
Both the Semi Finals were decided in two races, with the local crowd disappointed to see Sarah Lee of Hong Kong put in to the Bronze medal ride by Kristin a Vogel of Germany. Fastest qualifier Stephanie Morton of Australia progressed to the Gold medal ride after her match with Simon and Krupeckaite of Lithuania – although it took a third ride to get there.
Results
Heat 1
1 MORTON Stephanie AUS +0.023 * *
2 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU * +0.171 +0.174
Heat 2
1 VOGEL Kristina GER * *
2 LEE Wai Sze HKG +0.038 +0.065
Finals
The Bronze medal went to Hong Kong as Lee too two close wins over Krupeckaite. The Final was more complicated.
Morton pulled out of the first ride with a mechanical problem and the race was stopped. No mechanical problem could be found, and the tie was initially awarded to Vogel – before the Australian team retrieved a piece of white tape from the back straight which had fouled Morton wheel. The race was back on, but the result wasn’t affected – Vogel taking yet another World title with ease in two.
Results
GOLD VOGEL Kristina GER * *
SILVER MORTON Stephanie AUS +0.149 +0.147
BRONZE LEE Wai Sze HKG * *
4 270 KRUPECKAITE Simona LTU +0.054 +0.039