Lavreysen holds off Bötticher to win men's Sprint trophy at Track Champions League

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Nine-time World Champion Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) used convincing performances over all four rounds of the inaugural UCI Track Champions League to win the overall Men’s Sprint title on Saturday night in London. Germany’s Stefan Bötticher was the only rider to come close to the Dutcham, securing second overall with 133 points,, 14 back of Lavreysen. Vasilijus Lendel (Lithuania) and Mikhail Yakovlev (Russia)  scored 72 points in third place.

The decisive final round saw the Lavreysen and Bötticher go through the Keirin heats safely. In the final, Bötticher led the line behind the derny, while Lavreysen sat in fifth position and attacked from the back with one lap to go. In a photo finish at the line, Bötticher took the win by 0.004 seconds over the Dutchman, which tightened the overall standings to just three points.

It came down to a head-to-head battle in the Sprint final. With one lap to go, the sell-out crowd of more than 5,500 spectators drew a collective gasp as Bötticher drew level with Lavreysen. Then the Dutchman turned on the after-burners to take the victory, and the overall title as well. 

“I’m really happy with the win. After the first heat, I knew I took the jersey for the overall win and that made it really, really special. And I think I’m unbeaten in two years now in the sprint so I really wanted to keep that streak,” said Lavreysen, who took the men’s Sprint lead on the first round in Mallorca and continued with strong performances in Panevėžys and London., 

“Of course when you’re the World Champion, it’s not like you expect to win but I want to win and I think I feel bad if I don’t win it. Every event that I don’t win, I need to go in with a fresh mind otherwise I make mistakes. I didn’t think a lot about winning before starting this but after this, I’m pretty happy.”