Ganna breaks world record twice in individual pursuit

Report

Filippo Ganna (Italy) produced the headline display of the Track World Cup in Minsk when he broke the world record in the individual pursuit twice on the final day. The Italian recorded a time of 4:04.252 in qualifying on Sunday morning to beat the mark set by Ashton Lambie (USA) in September, and then broke his own record by clocking a remarkable 4:02.647 in the final.

Ganna caught his opponent John Archibald (Great Britain) en route to victory and proceeded to break his own world record by over a second, finishing in an average speed of 59.345kph. Lambie took the bronze medal, beating Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) with a time of 4:11.215.

“Coming after his medal in the Worlds time trial, these records will give him more awareness of the greats abilities that he has been gifted,” Italian coach Marco Villa said of Ganna’s remarkable world record rides, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Lambie’s previous record of 4:05.423 was achieved at an altitude of more than 2,500m at the Pan-American Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Ganna already held the world’s best time at sea level since this year’s Track World Championships in Pruszków, where he set a mark of 4:07.456 in qualifying. He is the first Italian to hold the individual pursuit world record since Andrea Colinelli in 1996.

Later in the session, Emma Hinze (Germany) won the women’s keirin, beating Mathilde Gros (France) into second, while Hyejin Lee (Korea) took third.

Denmark triumphed in the men’s Madison, where Lasse Norman Hansen partnered Michael Mørkøv to victory over the French duo of Bryan Coquard and Benjamin Thomas. The Spanish pair of Albert Torres and Sebastian Mora took bronze, while the Italian duo of Elia Viviani and Simone Consonni had to settle for 7th.

Jennifer Valente (USA) took victory in the women’s omnium with an assured display across the four events. Letizia Paternoster (Italy) claimed second place ahead of double Olympic champion Laura Kenny (Great Britain).

Valente moved into an early lead after winning the scratch race and tempo race, and she carried a buffer of four points over Paternoster into the final points race after another solid display in the elimination race. The American finished the competition with 130 points, while Paternoster took silver on 116 points and Kenny claimed the final step of the podium with 1098 points.

Daria Pikulik (Poland) took 4th ahead of Clara Copponi (France) and Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark).

The men’s individual sprint was dominated the Netherlands, as Harrie Lavreysen came from behind to beat his fellow countryman Jeffrey Hoogland in the final. Another Dutch rider, Matthijs Buchli (Beat Cycling Club) defeated Sebastien Vigier (France) for the bronze medal. Olympic champion Jason Kenny (Great Britain) was defeated comprehensively by the eventual winner Lavreysen in the quarter finals.

Men's Individual Pursuit

Men's Sprint

Women's Keirin

Women's Omnium

Men's Madison