The grand finale of the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in the Ballerup Super Arena, Denmark, delivered a fantastic event as the home crowd got to celebrate yet another two gold medals. Julie Leth won the women’s points race and Tobias Hansen outsprinted everyone in the men’s elimination.
The fifth and final day of competition also saw Dutch icon Harrie Lavreysen claim a 16th UCI World Champion title in the men’s sprint while Japan’s Mina Sato powered to victory in the women’s keirin. Germany’s Roger Kluge and Tim Torn Teutenberg closed out the week by winning the men’s Madison.
The final medal standing crowns the Netherlands as the most decorated nation in this edition of the UCI Track World Championships, with four gold medals, five silver and two bronze.
Leth’s extraordinary farewell
Julie Leth couldn’t dream of a better UCI World Championships on home ground, taking her second victory in two days as she ruled the women’s points race on the Sunday, also closing out her professional career. “I thought: ‘It’s my last race, why not go out with a bang and just give everything I have? Yesterday was amazing and to be able to do it again: wow!”, Leth said, expressing her disbelief after she snatched another rainbow jersey with a tally of 43 points.
Belgian star Lotte Kopecky suffered a mechanical as she launched her final assault, but still held on to the silver medal (40 pts), making it four UCI World Championships medals this year, along with her accolades in road and gravel.
Ireland’s Lara Gillespie snatched the final spot on the podium from New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston right on the line: 39 points for each, but Gillespie won the final sprint and thus took home the bronze.
Hansen continues the Danish joy
Moments after Leth gave Denmark their third UCI World Champion title of the week, Tobias Hansen delivered a fourth in the men’s elimination race. Already crowned in the men’s team pursuit and a silver medallist in the men’s scratch race, the 22-year-old rising star cracked the experienced Italian Elia Viviani in the final sprint.
“It’s just amazing”, an elated Hansen said after singing his national anthem along with the fans. “I don’t think I really understood what has happened… I’m just mega happy! It was quite chaotic but I really tried to keep a cool head, just focus on the race and not get too stressed. In the end, I had a bit of legs left and to finish it off is crazy.”
Canada’s Dylan Bibic took the bronze medal.
Lavreysen takes a 16th step into history
After he matched and then broke Arnaud Tournant’s record for most UCI World Champion titles earlier in the week, Dutch Harrie Lavreysen powered to a 16th rainbow jersey in the men’s individual sprint.
After setting the best time in qualifying (9.306 over a 200m flying start), the Dutch star didn’t lose any races on his way to the final, where he got the better of his countryman Jeffrey Hoogland, with two straight wins.
“I’m really happy with the gold medal, I’m really happy I can ride for another year the sprint events with the rainbow jersey”, Lavreysen celebrated. “Riding against my teammate in the final is always hard. We know each other so well… Our coach is not really helping us if we are racing against each other so I was really on my own, but I made a good plan and I was really cautious for surprises.”
In the final for bronze, Kaiya Ota fended off Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Paul to take Japan’s first medal in the event since 1989.
Sato enforces Japanese domination in the keirin
After her countryman Kento Yamasaki’s historic success in the men’s keirin on the Thursday, Mina Sato powered to victory in the women’s event. Japan is the first nation to win both the men’s and women’s keirins at the UCI World Championships since Germany in 2016.
“I’ve been trying to win the UCI World Championships many times but it’s always been a struggle”, Sato explained, reflecting on her silver medals in 2021 and 2022. “This time I finally got the gold medal and I’m so happy about this!”
It took a photo-finish to settle the podium positions behind Sato, with the Netherlands’ Hetty van de Wouw claiming the silver medal, ahead of Great Britain’s Katy Marchant.
Germany closes the week with a thriller
The sold-out arena witnessed an exhilarating men’s Madison to finish off the 2024 Tissot UCI World Championships, as Germany’s Roger Kluge and Tim Torn Teutenberg outpowered their rivals to take the last rainbow jerseys up for grabs in Ballerup.
At 38 years old, Kluge takes his third UCI World Champion title, while 22-year-old Teutenberg claims his first. The German duo lapped the field on two occasions to secure the victory with 76 points.
“In the end, even if there are generations in between, age doesn’t matter”, Kluge assured. “He’s young but he’s been a professional for years already. I’m happy I could show that I’ve still got the legs to go for it. We were unlucky with Theo [Reinhardt] in the Olympic Games and I’m quite happy to finish the season with this rainbow jersey.”
Belgium’s Lindsay De Vylder and Fabio Van den Bossche took the silver medal with 60 points, just ahead of Denmark’s Niklas Larsen and Michael Mørkøv (59 points).