Italians dominate standings after second day of UCI Track Cycling Worlds

Action is rolling in the Jean Stablinski Velodrome of Roubaix, the intensity rising further on day two of the 2021 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships with rainbow jerseys awarded in five disciplines: the men's and women's team pursuits, the men’s Scratch Race and keirin, and the women’s elimination.

Team pursuits: Italy and Germany enforce their collective strength

The first medals of the second day of action in the ‘Stab’ were awarded in the men’s team pursuit. The British and Danish teams were the first on track, battling for bronze, before Italy faced France for gold.

In front of their home crowd, Thomas Boudat, Thomas Denis, Valentin Tabellion and Benjamin Thomas put in a strong challenge, but the Olympic Champions Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan, accompanied by Liam Bertazzo on this occasion, took the lead after 2,500m and held on until the end, covering the 4km in 3:47.192, while the French finished in 3:49.168.

At 25 years old, Ganna claimed his seventh rainbow jersey, the fifth on the track alongside his two road titles in the individual time trial. Great Britain (Ethan Hayther, Ethan Vernon, Charlie Tanfield and Oliver Wood) took bronze against Denmark.

In the women’s event, the German Olympic Champions, already the fastest in the qualifying round held on Wednesday, asserted their dominance once again as they lapped the Irish team in the first round. The Italians, including Elisa Balsamo (recent winner of the road race in the UCI Road World Championships) and Martina Fidanza (winner of the first rainbow jersey in Roubaix on Wednesday, during the Scratch Race), joined them in the final.

Following their recent victory in the European Championships, Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer, Mieke Kröger and Laura Süssemilch claimed the rainbow jerseys in 4:08.752. The first three also took gold this summer in the Olympic Games. Chiara Consonni and Marinta Alzini won silver alongside Balsamo and Fidanza. Katie Archibald, Megan Barker, Neah Evans and Josie Knight joined them on the podium with the bronze medal for Great Britain.

Men’s Scratch Race: Grondin delights the French crowd

Following the example set by the women’s event on Wednesday, the men’s Scratch Race was another tactical affair as the riders covered 60 laps (15km). Gavin Hoover (USA) tried to anticipate the final sprint with an attack seven laps before the finish. He was caught with about 300m to go, with Donavan Grondin (FRA) at the helm.

In front of the French crowd, Grondin set a relentless pace and nobody could power past the rider hailing from Réunion. He is the third Frenchman to win the UCI World Champion title in the men’s Scratch Race, after Jérôme Neuville (2006) and Morgan Kneisky (2009). Participating in his first Elite UCI World Championships, Tuur Dens (BEL) took the silver medal ahead of another rookie, Rhys Britton (GBR).

Men’s keirin: Lavreysen, again and again

The sprinters of the keirin were the first to light up the track on Thursday, with the first rounds raced early in the afternoon. Winners of the team sprint the day before, the Dutch stars Harrie Lavreysen (also the defending UCI World Champion in the keirin) and Jeffrey Hoogland (recently winner of the keirin in the European Championships) dominated their heats in the first and second rounds, respectively, to power to the final.

Frenchman Rayan Helal, silver medallist in the team sprint, followed their lead, as well as Kento Yamasaki (JPN), UCI World Cycling Centre trainee Nicholas Paul (TTO) and Mikhail Iakovlev (RCF).

Dutch sprinters were dominant again in the final, with Lavreysen powering to his eighth rainbow jersey ahead of Hoogland. Iakovlev joined them on the podium and thus became the first Russian medallist in the keirin of the UCI World Championships.

Women’s elimination: Paternoster makes it three rainbows for Italy

A proper thriller wrapped up the second day of competition in Roubaix. Tension rose lap after lap with Mariia Novolodskaia (RUS) missing out on the podium as she finished fourth out of 21 starters. Lotte Kopecky (BEL), Jennifer Valente (USA) and Letizia Paternoster (ITA) were still in contention for the title. Valente tried to anticipate the sprint but she had to settle for bronze, the same medal she won on Wednesday in the Scratch Race.

Paternoster dominated the two-up sprint against Kopecky to take her first Women Elite rainbow jersey and become the first UCI World Champion in the elimination. She already brings Italy a third victory in these UCI Worlds, after Fidanza in the Scratch Race and the men in the team pursuit.

Action will resume on Friday with five more titles awarded in the Jean Stablinski Velodrome. Women will battle for the rainbow jersey in the individual sprint, after the first rounds set the stage for two duels between Canadian and German stars: Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER) will face Lauriane Genest (CAN), and the defending UCI World Champion Emma Hinze (GER) will race against Kelsey Mitchell (CAN).