Hinze continues as sprint leader for women in UCI Track Champions League

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Germany's Emma Hinze continued to lead the overall standings in the women's sprint category Saturday after round 2 of the UCI Track Champions League. The World Champion out-dueled Canadian Lauriane Genest to win the Sprint final, and was second in the Keirin final, behind German teammate Lea Friedrich. 

Racing at the Cido Arena in Panevėžys, Lithuania will be followed by two rounds ini London on December 3-4. The league will conclude in Tel Aviv on December 11.

Sprint

The racing opened with First Round of the Women's Sprint that offered six heats of three riders each where the winners moved onto the Semi-Finals. The winners of two semi-final heats then moved onto the finals; Hinze, who came into round 2 leading the overall standings in the women's sprint category, and Genest faced off for the win.

Hinze and Genest lined up side-by-side on the track to contest the final round for the victory. Hinze took the early lead and looked over her shoulder at the Canadian. Two laps to go, Hinze picked up her speed and carried it through to the finish line for the win.

“It was hard racing tonight, the same as in Mallorca. I’m exhausted. The crowd is great – it’s a great place to ride. It feels good to extend my lead in the category and I’m proud to win this one again,” Hinze said after the victory.

Keirin

The women's Keirin opened with the first round of three heats of six riders whereby the top two of each heat moved onto the final round of the top six riders: Emma Hinze and Lea Friedrich (Germany), Kelsey Mitchell (Canada), Laurine van Riessen (Netherlands), Riyu Ohta (Japan) and Martha Bayona Pineda (Colombia).

The derny set off with Friedrich tucking in behind and as the motor swung off the women saw three laps to go. Friedrich remained out front ahead of her compatriot Hinze with Mitchell making her move on the last lap. 

However, it was Friedrich who took the win, unchallenged, ahead of Hinze and Mitchell.