Four thrilling battles and four more world titles awarded on the penultimate day of the 2018 Track Cycling World Championships.
Women
500m Time Trial
Final
Daria Shmeleva of Russia could not defend her title from a year ago. Her time of 33.237 was quicker than her qualification run but was only good enough for second. Instead, it was Miriam Welte of Germany who clinched the title by 0.087 seconds. Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands finished third, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd.
GOLD WELTE Miriam GER 33.150
SILVER SHMELEVA Daria RUS 33.237
BRONZE LIGTLEE Elis NED 33.484
4 GRABOSCH Pauline Sophie GER 33.487
5 STARIKOVA Olena UKR 33.609
6 CALVO Tania ESP 33.996
7 LAMBERINK Kyra NED 34.179
8 MARCHANT Katy GBR 34.242
Madison
The Women’s Madison was unlike a usual Madison in that no laps were taken throughout the course of the 30km race.
There were, however, only five teams who did not lose laps. The teams from Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Russia and the Netherlands did not give each other an inch. Each of them made attempts to get away but to no avail.
With no teams able to gain a lap, it came down to the sprint points, and that was an area where the British team dominated. Archibald and Nelson won eight of the twelve sprints, and looked in control throughout the race. Netherlands and Italy did all they could to challenge for the Gold medal spot but it was never within their reach.
The team from Great Britain secured the world title and with it the coveted rainbow jerseys. Netherlands finished in second and Italy got the Bronze.
GOLD Great Britain (ARCHIBALD Katie, NELSON Emily) (50)
SILVER Netherlands (WILD Kirsten, PIETERS Amy) (35)
BRONZE Italy (PATERNOSTER Letizia, CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia) (20)
4 Denmark (DIDERIKSEN Amalie, SCHMIDT Trine) (18)
5 Russian Federation (NOVOLODSKAYA Maria, ZABELINSKAYA Olga) (14)
6 Mexico (ARREOLA Sofia, SALAZAR Lizbeth Yareli) (-15)
Individual Pursuit
Finals
To nobody’s great surprise, Chloe Dygert of the USA defended her Individual Pursuit world title, setting another world record. Annemiek van Vleuten had to settle for Silver after being caught by the American in the final.
Kelly Catlin beat Germany’s Lisa Brennauer to ensure it would be two riders from the USA on the podium.
GOLD DYGERT Chloe USA 3:20.060 – WORLD RECORD
SILVER van VLEUTEN Annemiek NED
BRONZE CATLIN Kelly USA 3:34.658
4 BRENNAUER Lisa GER 3:35.920
Men
Omnium
Elimination
After a controlled ride throughout, it was Szymon Sajnok of Poland who took the victory in the Elimination race and moved up to second in the Omnium Standings.
1 SAJNOK Szymon POL
2 van SCHIP Jan Willem NED
3 CONSONNI Simone ITA
4 IMHOF Claudio SUI
5 GLADYSH Roman UKR
6 TSISHKOU Raman BLR
Points Race
Oliver Wood (GBR), Daniel Holloway (USA), Eiya Hashimoto (JPN), Szymon Sajnok (POL) and Benjamin Thomas (FRA) were all among the riders who tried early attacks in the final event of the Men’s Omnium, but they came to nothing.
At the 61 lap to go mark, Felix English of Ireland gained a lap, the first rider of the race to do so. Not long after, Niklas Larsen (DEN), Ivo Oliveira (POR), Albert Torres (ESP), Oliver Wood (GBR) and Eiya Hashimoto (JPN) also gained a lap and moved themselves up the leaderboard.
There was a crash at 33 laps to go, which saw the Dutch, Czech and Belarusian riders go down, but they were soon back up and on the track.
After continuing score in the majority of the sprints, Oliver Wood of Great Britain continued to move himself up the standings. Ahead of the final sprint, Sajnok (POL) held the lead, with van Schip (NED) lying second and Consonni (ITA) sitting third.
In the final dash for the line, the Dutch rider showed signs of fatigue and was unable to score. Campbell Stewart of New Zealand bagged the maximum points in the final sprint but it was Szymon Sajnok of Poland who crossed the line as the new Men’s Omnium world champion. Van Schip (NED) ended up second and Consonni brought home the Bronze for Italy.
1 LARSEN Niklas DEN (46)
2 WOOD Oliver GBR (38)
3 OLIVEIRA Ivo POR (31)
4 HASHIMOTO Eiya JPN (27)
5 TORRES Albert ESP (26)
6 ENGLISH Felix IRL (20)
Omnium Final Standings
GOLD SAJNOK Szymon POL (111)
SILVER van SCHIP Jan Willem NED (107)
BRONZE CONSONNI Simone ITA (104)
4 OLIVEIRA Ivo POR (94)
5 STEWART Campbell NZL (93)
6 WOOD Oliver GBR (90)
Sprint
Semifinals
Straight rides again decided the outcome of the semifinals. Carlin (GBR) and Glaetzer (AUS) both cruised through to the Gold medal final, with Levy (GER) and Vigier (FRA) left to battle it out for Bronze.
Heat 1
1 CARLIN Jack GBR (Winner) (Winner) – Qualify for Gold/Silver Final
2 LEVY Maximilian GER (+0.053) (+0.118) – Qualify for Bronze Final
Heat 2
1 GLAETZER Matthew AUS (Winner) (Winner) – Qualify for Gold/Silver Final
2 VIGIER Sebastien FRA (+0.252) (+0.140) – Qualify for Bronze Final
Finals
The finals saw little drama as both were won in two matches. Matthew Glaetzer of Australia claimed the world title after beating Great Britain’s Jack Carlin, and Vigier of France triumphed over Levy from Germany to take the Bronze.
After his win, Glaetzer said “This win is very special and I’d like to dedicate it to my late coach Gary West who passed away last year. I did this for him.”
GOLD GLAETZER Matthew AUS (Winner) (Winner)
SILVER CARLIN Jack GBR (+0.045) (+0.098)
BRONZE VIGIER Sebastien FRA (Winner) (Winner)
4 LEVY Maximilian GER (+0.023) (+0.090)