Team Pursuit
Qualifying
Women
Russia kicked off the opening session of the second round of the Tissot Track Cycling World Cup Series in Milton, Ontario. Alexandra Goncharova, Gulnaz Badykova, Daria Malkova and Natalia Studinenka clocked a 4:31.97. Neither Poland nor China could match that time but Yumi Kajihara, Kie Furuyama, Yuya Hashimoto and Miho Yoshikawa of Japan did, though – topping the leaderboard with a 4:29.584.
Their lead didn’t last long – in the next heat Laurie Berthon, Marion Borras, Coralie Demay and Pascale Jeuland put France on top with a 4:27.257. That time, too, was quickly bettered with Franziska Brausse, Charlotte Becker, Lisa Brennauer and Lisa Klein setting a new fastest time of 4:23.290.
Canada’s Pedal to the Metal development squad couldn’t challenge the times of the more experienced squads, but New Zealand’s quartet, which followed them, shaved almost two tenths off the Germans’ time. Rushlee Buchanan, Ellesse Andrews, Bryony Botha and Kirstie James’ time of 4:23.110 kept them ahead of the senior Canadian squad of Ariane Bonhomme, Annie Foreman-Mackey, Kinley Gibson and Stephanie Roorda who went third with a 4:23.337.
European Champions Great Britain then took over at the top – Laura Kenny, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Eleanor Dickinson moving the mark by over four seconds with a 4:18.962. That just left two teams – Italy and United States.
Elisa Balsamo, Marta Cavalli, Simona Frapporti and Silvia Valsecchi slotted in between GB and the Kiwis with a time of 4:20.570 but the World Champion United States, missing key riders, could only manage a 4:28.681 – enough to put Jennifer Valente, Christina Birch, Kimberly Geist and Emma White seventh – with Japan the last of the qualifiers.
1 Great Britain (KENNY Laura, ARCHIBALD Katie, BARKER Elinor, DICKINSON Eleanor) 4:18.962
2 Italy (BALSAMO Elisa, CAVALLI Marta, FRAPPORTI Simona, VALSECCHI Silvia) 4:20.570
3 New Zealand (BUCHANAN Rushlee, ANDREWS Ellesse, BOTHA Bryony, JAMES Kirstie) 4:23.110
4 Germany (BRAUSSE Franziska, BECKER Charlotte, BRENNAUER Lisa, KLEIN Lisa) 4:23.290
5 Canada (BONHOMME Ariane, FOREMAN-MACKEY Annie, GIBSON Kinley, ROORDA Stephanie) 4:23.337
6 France (BERTHON Laurie, BORRAS Marion, DEMAY Coralie, JEULAND Pascale) 4:27.257
7 United States (VALENTE Jennifer, BIRCH Christina, GEIST Kimberly, WHITE Emma) 4:28.681
8 Japan (KAJIHARA Yumi, FURUYAMA Kie, HASHIMOTO Yuya, YOSHIKAWA Miho) 4:29.584
Men
Belgium were the first squad out of the gate in the Men’s Team Pursuit qualifying session, Lindsay de Vylder, Fabio van den Bossche, Robbe Ghys and Kenny de Ketele breaking the four minute barrier with a 3:58.939. The Canadian Pedal to the Metal squad Were four seconds the wrong side of the barrier with a 4:04.197 – and Japan were almost half a second off that pace.
The senior Canadian squad set a new national record – Michael Foley, Derek Gee, Adam Jamieson and Jay Lamoreux going fastest with a 3:56.931 – and stayed top as the Poles, Russians and the US squads all failed to break four minutes.
France managed to top 60km/h average speed – Benjamin Thomas, Bryan Coquard, Adrien Garel and Florian Maitre going second with a 3:58.275. They dropped to third as New Zealand slotted in behind Canada with a 3:56.986. Regan Gough, Jordan Kerby, Nicholas Kergozou and Cambell Stewart immediately dropped to third as the Danish quartet of Casper van Folsach, Lasse Norman Hansen, Julius Johansen and Rasmus Pedersen took over at the top on 3:56.885.
Neither Switzerland nor Germany could challenge the top spots, but the Huub Wattbike Test Team of John Archibald, Daniel Bigham, Harry Tanfield and Jonathan Wale went a third of a second faster than the Danes on 3:56.628. With Italy just scraping into the last of the qualification spots in the penultimate round, it looked inevitable that they would be bumped out by Great Britain – and for a while it looked as though Mark Stewart, Ed Clancy, Kian Emadi and Oliver Wood were going to finish the session on top – but a (relatively) slow final kilometre left them just five hundredths off Huub Wattbike’s time on 3:56.672.
1 Huub Wattbike Test Team (ARCHIBALD John, BIGHAM Daniel, TANFIELD Harry, WALE Jonathan) 3:56.628
2 Great Britain (STEWART Mark, CLANCY Edward, EMADI Kian, WOOD Oliver) 3:56.672
3 Denmark (von FOLSACH Casper, HANSEN Lasse Norman, JOHANSEN Julius, PEDERSEN Rasmus) 3:56.885
4 Canada (FOLEY Michael, GEE Derek, JAMIESON Adam, LAMOUREUX Jay) 3:56.931
5 New Zealand (GOUGH, KERBY Jordan, KERGOZOU Nicholas, STEWART Campbell) 3:56.986
6 France (THOMAS Benjamin, COQUARD Bryan, GAREL Adrien, MAITRE Florian) 3:58.285
7 Belgium (de VYLDER Lindsay, de KETELE Kenny, GHYS Robbe, van den BOSSCHE Fabio) 3:58.939
8 Germany (FRAHM Jasper, GROSS Felix, ROHDE Leon, WEINSTEIN Domenic) 3:58.942
