More Team Pursuit, more Team Sprint, and more Para events for Session Two at the 2018 Track World Cup London.
Women’s Team Sprint First Round
The first heat of the Women’s Team Sprint First Round saw France take the win over Lithuania by the narrowest of margins. The second heat went to Germany with Gazprom-RusVelo fading in the second lap. It was the Dutch team who won the third heat, beating the team from Russia by over half a second. The fourth and final heat went to China who took an emphatic victory over the Mexicans.
The finals will see France go against the Netherlands for Bronze, and Germany face China for Gold and Silver.
Heat 1
1 France (CLAIR Sandie, GROS Mathilde) 0:33.268 (QB)
2 Lithuania (MAROZAITE Migle, KRUPECKAITE Simona) 0:33.394
Heat 2
1 Germany (WELTE Miriam, HINZE Emma) 0:32.823 (QG)
2 Gazprom-RusVelo (ROGOVAYA Ekaterina, SHMELEVA Daria) 0:33.252
Heat 3
1 Netherlands (LAMBERINK Kyra, van de WOUW Hetty) 0:33.043 (QB)
2 Russian Federation (ANTONOVA Natalia, GNIDENKO Ekaterina) 0:33.592
Heat 4
1 People’s Republic of China (LIN Junhong, ZHONG Tianshi) 0:32.896 (QG)
2 Mexico (SALAZAR VALLES Jessica, VERDUGO OSUNA Yuli Paola) 0:33.553
Women’s Team Pursuit Finals
Nobody could stop the quartet from Great Britain. Archibald, Dickinson, Evans and Kenny caught the team from the USA half way through the final and secured the Gold medal. Italy narrowly beat Team Breeze for Bronze.
GOLD Great Britain (ARCHIBALD Katie, DICKINSON Eleanor, EVANS Neah, KENNY Laura)
SILVER United States of America (BIRCH Christina, CATLIN Kelly, GEIST Kimberly, WHITE Emma)
BRONZE Italy (BALSAMO Elisa, FRAPPORTI Simona, GUAZZINI Vittoria, VALSECCHI Silvia) 4:23.765
4 Team Breeze (HOLL Jenny, KNIGHT Josie, RAYBOULD Rebecca, ROBERTS Jessica) 4:24.512
Women’s Team Sprint Finals
With China and Germany so evenly matched, the Gold medal final was incredibly close. On the line, though, it was the Chinese pair that took the honours, while the Netherlands topped France for the Bronze medal.
GOLD People’s Republic of China (LIN Junhong, ZHONG Tianshi) 0:32.771
SILVER Germany (WELTE Miriam, HINZE Emma) 0:32.808
BRONZE Netherlands (LAMBERINK Kyra, BRASPENNINCX Shanne) 0:33.145
4 France (GROS Mathilde, CLAIR Sandie) 0:33.494
Men’s Team Sprint First Round
Poland, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands all won their respective heats convincingly over their opponents. They set up a Poland vs Germany ride off for Bronze and a battle between Great Britain and the Netherlands for Gold and Silver.
Heat 1
1 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, SARNECKI Rafal, MAKSEL Krzysztof) 0:44.341 (QB)
2 Trinidad and Tobago (PHILLIP Njisane, PAUL Nicholas, BROWNE Kwesi) 0:44.401
Heat 2
1 Germany (BICHLER Timo, LEVY Maximilian, EILERS Joachim) 0:43.758 (QB)
2 People’s Republic of China (GUO Shuai, XU Chao, ZHOU Yu) 0:44.209
Heat 3
1 Great Britain (OWENS Ryan, HINDES Philip, KENNY CBE Jason) 0:43.141 (QG)
2 Spain (MARTINEZ CHORRO Alejandro, PERALTA GASCON Juan, MORENO SANCHEZ Jose) 0:44.614
Heat 4
1 Netherlands (van den BERG Roy, LAVREYSEN Harrie, HOOGLAND Jeffrey) 0:42.758 (QG)
2 France (GRENGBO Florian, LANDERNEAU Melvin, LAFARGUE Quentin) 0:44.021
Men’s Team Pursuit Finals
For the first half of the final, it looked as though Belgium may beat the HUUB Wattbike Test Team to the Team Pursuit title. The British squad based in Derby, or as they like to call it ‘Derbados’, held their nerve and brought it back in the closing laps. Their time of 3:57.726 was an impressive one and their performance goes to show that trade teams without the backing of national federations can compete on the world stage.
The young Great Britain team just clinched the Bronze medal by 0.03 seconds – an impressive feat considering they were up against Olympic gold medallist Elia Viviani and the rest of the European championship-winning Italian team.
GOLD HUUB Wattbike Test Team (ARCHIBALD John, BIGHAM Daniel, LAMBIE Ashton, WALE Jonathan) 3:57.726
SILVER Belgium (de VYLDER Lindsay, de KETELE Kenny, GHYS Robbe, van den BOSSCHE Fabio) 3:59.014
BRONZE Great Britain (WALLS Matthew, TIDBALL William, VERNON Ethan, WRIGHT Fred) 3:59.609
4 Italy (VIVIANI Elia, BERTAZZO Liam, LAMON Francesco, SCARTEZZINI Michele) 3:59.639
Men’s Team Sprint Finals
The Dutch trio showed the same class that won them the world title, as they powered to victory over the team from Great Britain. Germany beat Poland in an equally emphatic manner to take Bronze.
GOLD Netherlands (van den BERG Roy, LAVREYSEN Harrie, HOOGLAND Jeffrey) 0:42.789
SILVER Great Britain (OWENS Ryan, HINDES Philip, TRUMAN Joseph) 0:44.186
BRONZE Germany (BICHLER Timo, LEVY Maximilian, EILERS Joachim) 44.001
4 Poland (BIELECKI Maciej, SARNECKI Rafal, MAKSEL Krzysztof) 44.842
Mixed Para B Sprint Finals
Both of the Mixed Para B Sprint Finals were decided in just two rides and both were won by Brits. Neil Fachie MBE & Matt Rotherham secured the Gold medal (to the surprise of nobody) and Matthew Ellis & Barney Storey bagged Bronze.
GOLD FACHIE MBE Neil (Pilot: ROTHERHAM Matt) GBR (A) (B)
SILVER GORDON Martin (Pilot: BYRNE Eamonn) IRL
BRONZE ELLIS Matthew (Pilot: STOREY Barney) GBR (A) (B)
4 POPE Alex (Pilot: GENEIX Albin) GBR
Mixed Para C1-5 Team Sprint Finals
After qualifying fastest, the British team of Rolfe, Butterworth and Cundy backed up their performance in the afternoon with a win in the evening. The trio beat the team from the USA by over three seconds, while Robertson, Bjergfelt and Gildea came away with the Bronze medal.
GOLD Great Britain (ROLFE MBE Louis, BUTTERWORTH MBE Jon-Allan, CUNDY OBE Jody) 0:50.024
SILVER United States of America (KIMBALL Jason, BERENYI Joseph, MURPHY Christopher) 0:53.064
BRONZE Great Britain (ROBERTSON Matthew, BJERGFELT William, GILDEA Jonathan) 0:54.033
4 Great Britain (GIGLIA MBE Megan, COX MBE Kadeena, GRAHAM Finlay) 0:56.022