Men
Team Pursuit
The Men’s Team Pursuit progressed to the First Round stage with Canada, Germany, France and Japan in the hunt for a Bronze medal ride. The first two heats were reasonably close with Canada 1.2 seconds up at the finish, having led Germany from start to finish while France, too, led throughout – coming home almost 2.4 seconds clear of Japan. More importantly, they were 0.8 seconds faster than Canada and in pole position for the Bronze medal ride.
Italy’s Qualifying ride had been disappointing. They’d started slowly and clawed their way back from 10th at the end of the first lap – and 6th with 125m to go – to 3rd overall with a 3:50.408. New Zealand, on the other hand, were the 2nd fastest squad in the early stages, faded a little in the middle but finished strongly to go second with a time of 3:49.113. This heat should have been close.
In the end, it wasn’t particularly. Italy were half a second ahead of the Kiwis after two laps and 1.3 seconds clear at the halfway point. And they just kept going. It was 1.4 seconds at the end and the Kiwis’ only consolation was that they were 1.1 seconds faster than the French quartet and into the Bronze medal ride – and pretty certain to face their old rivals the Aussies.
Nothing’s ever certain in track cycling, of course, but the Danes were 3.7 seconds quicker than the Australians in Qualifying and, short of a crash or a mechanical, their place in the Gold medal ride looked assured. On the other hand, the Australians had only been half a second quicker than France – and the French had found another 1.6 seconds in this session.
Denmark were on top form again. 1.2 seconds quicker than they managed in Qualifying – despite easing off in the last two laps with Australia in their sights. The clocked 3:45.634, but there was probably the best part of another second in here if they needed it. Australia improved, too, to book their place in the Bronze medal ride – 2.3 seconds faster than in Qualifying and just 12 hundredths slower than the Kiwis. The Gold medal ride is likely to be a demonstration; the Bronze medal ride will be a battle.
First Round
1 Canada CAN (GUILLEMETTE Mathias, FOLEY Michael, GEE Derek, MATTERN Carson) 3:50.079
2 Germany GER (REINHARDT Theo, BUCK-GRAMCKO Tobias, EILERS Joachim, GROSS Felix) 3:51.282
1 France FRA (THOMAS Benjamin, DENIS Thomas, ERMENAULT Corentin, TABELLION Valentin) 3:49.294
2 Japan JPN (HASHIMOTO Eiya, KUBOKI Kazushige, KOJIMA Naoki, MATSUDA Shoi) 3:51.650
1 Italy ITA (GANNA Filippo, LAMON Francesco, MILAN Jonathan, MORO Manlio) 3:46.855 QG
2 New Zealand NZL (GATE Aaron, STEWART Campbell, SEXTON Thomas, KERGOZOU de la BOESSIERE Nicholas) 3:48.218 QB
1 Denmark DEN (LARSEN Niklas, BEVORT Carl-Frederik, LETH Lasse, PEDERSEN Rasmus) 3:45.634 QG
2 Australia AUS (BLEDDYN Oliver, BRIEN Kelland, LEAHY Conor, WELSFORD Sam) 3:48.230 QB
Team Sprint
The biggest upset of the Men’s Team Sprint First Round was in the second heat where Great Britain – who had qualified 6th managed to see off Poland who’d qualified 3rd – despite a false start. It wasn’t close, either – Poland were all over the place and finished a second adrift.
France had edged Japan out by a tenth in the first heat – with a time nine tenths quicker than the Brits – but the top teams in the final two heats would determine who raced for which medals.
Australia powered past the Germans – Matthew Richardson, Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Glaetzer eight tenths faster than Maximilian Dornbach, Nik Schroter and Luca Spiegel – and into the Gold medal ride. The Netherlands’ margin over the Chinese trio of Shuai Guo, Chenxi Xue and You Zhou was double that – Jeffrey Hoogland, Harrie Lavreysen and Roy van den Berg dipping under 42 seconds with a 41.847.
The Bronze medal ride was close with the British trio of Harrison Fielding, Hamish Turnbull and Joseph Truman ahead until the last half lap, although in the end Florian Grengbo, Rayan Helal and Sebastien Vigier were almost half a second clear as France took the Bronze.
The Gold medal final was close, too. Van den Berg was quicker out of the blocks, but Hoffman was ahead by the end of the opening lap and the Aussies held the lead until the final changeover. The Hoogland-Glaetzer battle was epic but it was the Dutch who prevailed. Both teams went under 42 but the Netherlands’ time of 41.647 was enough – by 0.035 seconds.
Finals
GOLD Netherlands NED (VAN DEN BERG Roy, LAVREYSEN Harrie, HOOGLAND Jeffrey) 41.647
SILVER Australia AUS (HOFFMAN Leigh, RICHARDSON Matthew, GLAETZER Matthew) 41.682
BRONZE France FRA (GRENGBO Florian, VIGIER Sebastien, HELAL Rayan) 42.583
4 Great Britain GBR (FIELDING Harrison, TURNBULL Hamish, TRUMAN Joseph) 42.946
First Round
1 France FRA 42.757 (GRENGBO Florian, HELAL Rayan, VIGIER Sebastien) QB
2 Japan JPN (NAGASAKO Yoshitaku, OBARA Yuta, OTA Kaiya) 42.948
1 Great Britain GBR (FIELDING Alistair, CARLIN Jack, TURNBULL Hamish) 42.821 QB
2 Poland POL (BIELECKI Maciej, RAJKOWSKI Patryk, RUDYK Mateusz) 43.853
1 Australia AUS (RICHARDSON Matthew, HOFFMAN Leigh, GLAETZER Matthew) 42.130 QG
2 Germany GER (DORNBACH Maximilian, SCHROTER Nik, SPIEGEL Luca) 42.920
1 Netherlands NED (HOOGLAND Jeffrey, LAVREYSEN Harrie, van den BERG Roy) 41.847 QG
2 China CHN (GUO Shuai, XUE Chenxi, ZHOU Yu) 43.490
Women
Team Pursuit
The Women’s Team Pursuit competition kicked off with another strong early ride from the Kiwis – ahead from Heat 6 until Heat 14 – of 15. Michaela Drummong, Ally Wollaston, Emily Shearman and Bryony Botha leaped to the top of the leaderboard with a 4:11.777 and waited.
The USA were the first team expected to better their time – with Chloe Dygert leading Jennifer Valente, Lilly Williams and Olivia Cummins – but, despite the new Individual Pursuit World Champion’s long pulls on the front, they were 2.4 seconds behind at the end.
Germany were the next to try to depose the Kiwis, but were the best part of a second behind the Americans and Canada slotted into fourth, over a second behind the Germans.
Australia squeezed in between Germany and Canada – Chloe Moran, Sophie Edwards, Georgia Baker and Maeve Plouffe clocking 4:15.800 – and all three dropped a place when France recorded a 4:14.463.
That left two teams to go and the next team would have the crowd behind them. Local hero Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris had a steady start – fourth quickest out of the gate and second after the opening lap – but went into the lead after two laps and never looked likely to lose it. By the end they were 1.444 seconds clear and into the seeded heats in the First Round.
Italy’s men had stuttered the day before, but how would the women perform. Like the men, it was a strong squad – Elisa Balsamo, Letizia Paternoster, Martina Fidanza and Vittoria Guazzini – but, like the men, they didn’t quite seem to have the form.
In the past, Great Britain have looked out of sorts in the Worlds before an Olympics and have come good, so it’s hard to read to much into Italy’s relative lack of form, but 4:14.742 – four seconds off the GB time – was pretty disastrous by their standards and left them fifth and racing Canada for a spot in the Bronze medal ride.
Qualifying
1 Great Britain GBR (ARCHIBALD Katie, BARKER Elinor, KNIGHT Josie, MORRIS Anna) 4:10.333
2 New Zealand NZL (DRUMMOND Michaela, WOLLASTON Ally, SHEARMAN Emily, BOTHA Bryony) 4:11.777
3 United States USA (VALENTE Jennifer, WILLIAMS Lily, CUMMINS Olivia, DYGERT Chloe) 4:14.184
4 France FRA (BORRAS Marion, FORTIN Valentine, BERTEAU Victoire, le NET Marie) 4:14.463
5 Italy ITA (BALSAMO Elisa, PATERNOSTER Letizia, FIDANZA Martina, GUAZZINI Vittoria) 4:14.742
6 Germany GER (BRAUSSE Franziska, KLEIN Lisa, KROGER Mieke, SUSSEMILCH Laura) 4:15.035
7 Australia AUS (MORAN Chloe, EDWARDS Sophie, BAKER Georgia, PLOUFFE Maeve) 4:15.800
8 Canada CAN (COLES-LYSTER Maggie, van DAM Sarah, ATTWELL Erin J, BONHOMME Ariane) 4:19.208
9 Ireland IRL (GILLESPIE Lara, KAY Emily, MURPHY Kelly, SHARPE Alice) 4:21.653
10 Poland POL (WANKIEWICZ Olga, KARASIEWICZ Karolina, KUMIEGA Karolina, PIKULIK Wiktoria) 4:24.183
11 Japan JPN (KAJIHARA Yumi, KAKITA Maho, UCHINO Tsuyaka, IKEDA Mizuki) 4:25.332
12 China CHN (WANG Susu, WANG Xiaoyue, WEI Suwan, ZHANG Hongjie) 4:25.547
13 Spain ESP (CALVO BARBERO Tania, RODRIGUEZ CORDERO Laura, ESCALERA Isabella Maria, FERRERES NAVARRO Isabel) 4:30.764
14 Mexico MEX (VELASCO FUENTES Victoria, ACEVEDO MENDOZA Yareli, GAXIOLA GONZALEZ Maria Antonieta, SALAZAR VAZQUEZ Lizbeth Yarely) 4:31.770
15 Nigeria NGR 5:16.294 (AYUBA Grace, GRIKPA Tombrapa Gladys, SAMUEL Mary, UKPESERAYE Ese)
500m Time Trial
The Women’s 500m Time Trial saw another early starter with a long, nervous wait at the top of time sheets. Sophie Capewell of Great Britain set at time of 33.042 in Heat 2 and nobody came close until Yulu Jiang of China and Lea Sophie Friedrich of Germany in Heat 7. Jiang was a third of a second adrift, but went third. Friedrich was less than five hundredths quicker and still three tenths off Capewell’s time.
Jiang’s team mate Yufang Guo pipped her by nine thousandths of a second to go third behind Friedrich but dropped a place when Pauline Sophie Grabosch slotted in behind her compatriot 35 hundredths behind. There were just two heats and four riders – albeit the quickest four seeded riders – to go.
In the penultimate heat, Martha Bayona of Colombia could only manage 8th but Kristina Clonan of Australia finally knocked Capewell of top spot – 0.38 seconds quicker on 33.004. That left reigning World Champion Taky Marie Devine Kouame of France and the rider she pipped to the title last year, Emma Hinze of Germany. Kouame had a terrible ride by her standards – she finished 10th and out of contention for the medals. Hinze, however, had her revenge and topped the table with a 32.850. 0.2 seconds separated the top three – 0.6 seconds separated the top eight.
And so to the final. The three Chinese riders were off first and would remain the slowest three of the final eight – albeit with Shanju Bao improving her time by over a tenth of a second and her position from 8th to 6th. From 5th to 1st there was only once change in the order from the morning session and, disappointingly for the home crowd, it was Capewell who was a quarter of a second slower than in Qualifying with Friedrich improving by a similar amount to take the Bronze.
Clonan dipped under 33 seconds – shaving five hundredths off her qualifying time – but Hinze improved by three hundredths to take the title.
Final
GOLD HINZE Emma GER 32.820
SILVER CLONAN Kristina AUS 32.956
BRONZE FRIEDRICH Lea Sophie GER 33.134
4 CAPEWELL Sophie GBR 33.256
5 GRABOSCH Pauline Sophie GER 33.296
6 BAO Shanju CHN 33.378
7 GUO Yufang CHN 33.410
8 JIANG Yulu CHN 33.460
Qualifying
1 HINZE Emma GER 32.850
2 CLONAN Kristina AUS 33.004
3 CAPEWELL Sophie GBR 33.042
4 FRIEDRICH Lea Sophie GER 33.336
5 GRABOSCH Pauline Sophie GER 33.371
6 GUO Yufang CHN 33.375
7 JIANG Yulu CHN 33.384
8 BAO Shanju CHN 33.482
9 BAYONA PINEDA Martha COL 33.546
10 KOUAME Taky Marie Divine FRA 33.676
11 VECE Miriam ITA 33.680
12 BELL Lauren GBR 33.992
13 LAMBERINK Kyra NED 34.015
14 PETCH Rebecca NZL 34.062
15 BRASPENNINCX Shanne NED 34.143
16 MARQUARDT Mandy USA 34.456
17 SALAZAR VALLES Jessica MEX 34.469
18 JABORNIKOVA Veronika CZE 34.678
19 MOHD ASRI Nurul Izzah Izzati MAS 34.879
20 MICHAUX Julie FRA 34.962
21 SAKAI Aki JPN 34.966
22 VERA Natalia Andrea ARG 35.246
23 YEUNG Cho You HKG 35.570
24 UKPESERAYE Ese NGR 38.604
25 MOHAMED Shahd EGY 38.697
26 GRIKPA Tombrapa Gladys NGR 39.958
Scratch Race
A cagey Women’s Scratch Race saw little action but good pace in the early stages. Lena Reissner of Germany had a pop around the halfway mark, but Katrijn de Clerq of Belgium ensured it was snuffed out and it was de Clerq who made the next significant attack, but it didn’t last any longer than Reissner’s.
Then Eukene Larrarte of Spain and Ebtissam Zayed Ahmed of Egypt slipped away and got a decent gap. Zayed Ahmed couldn’t hold the pace and Larrarte was wept up by the bunch, animated by Maria Martins of Portugal. And then Jennifer Valente came around them all as though they weren’t moving – with Maike van der Duin of the Netherlands and Michaela Drummond and New Zealand following her through to join her on the podium.
GOLD VALENTE Jennifer USA
SILVER van der DUIN Maike NED
BRONZE DRUMMOND Michaela NZL
4 FIDANZA Martina ITA
5 COPPONI Clara FRA
6 UCHINO Tsuyaka JPN
7 PIKULIK Daria POL
8 COLES-LYSTER Maggie CAN
9 STENBERG Anita Yvonne NOR
10 BALEIŠYTE Olivija LTU
11 ROBERTS Jessica GBR
12 KAY Emily IRL
13 MORAN Chloe AUS
14 LIECHTI Jasmin SUI
15 ŠEVČIKOVA Petra CZE
16 REISSNER Lena Charlotte GER
17 GAXIOLA GONZALEZ Maria Antonieta MEX
18 de CLERCQ Katrijn BEL
19 MARTINS Maria POR
20 LEE Sze Wing HKG
21 JOSEPH Amber BAR
22 LARRARTE ARTEAGA Eukene ESP
23 BAČIKOVA Alžbeta SVK
24 ZAYED AHMED Ebtissam EGY
