Track World Championships day 5: Trott wins Omnium, Wiggins/Cavendish with Madison gold

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After five days of competition, the Track World Championships came to a close with the final four gold medals awarded to the victors. Following a poor start to the week Great Britain ended with a bang, claiming two medals in the women's omnium and the Madision. Germany took another gold with Joachim Eilers in the keirin and China dominated the sprint with Tianshi Zhong beating teammate Lin Junhong in the women's sprint. 

Madison

The 50 kilometre Madision closed out the five-day World Championships with 16 nations competing for the final gold medals of the competition. It was an aggressive ride from the off and several teams gained a lap on the bunch, putting themselves into prime position for the title.

One of those countries was Colombia with their newly crowned omnium champion Fernando Gaviria, who would later crash. France and Switzerland also stole laps, as did Australia thanks to a huge solo effort midway through the race.

The night would belong to the pairing of Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins, who racked up the most points in the first half of the race, but then faced a massive challenge of trying to steal back the lap on those four teams. They bided their time, waiting until the last 20 laps when Wiggins followed Albert Torres from Spain and the two teams worked together to lap the field despite a desperate chase from Australia.

Their celebration was short-lived as Cavendish touched wheels and crashed in a bend in the closing laps, but he managed to get back in the race and help the team finish sixth in the final sprint.

It was the second world title for the British pair, who last won in 2008 in a similar fashion.

• See also: Cavendish and Wiggins take Madison gold at Track World Championships

Trott secures Omnium title after points race

Laura Trott won her second title at the 2016 UCI Track World Championships on Sunday afternoon, riding an assured points race to seal gold in the Omnium.

Trott, the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, led by 12 points going into the sixth and final event, and she took 17 points across the 10 sprints to stretch out her lead at the top of the overall standings.

Laurie Berthon (France) and Sarah Hammer (USA) played out an entertaining tussle for second and third overall and after being neck and neck for much of the race it was the Frenchwoman who won the final sprint to take the silver medal.

"My coach said I should try and win the first sprint and after that I could relax a bit," said Trott, explaining her tactics. She did just that and, though she was prominent in other sprints, her main task was simply to mark Berthon and Hammer. 

"The Olympics is no different, I’m going there to win and I’m looking forward to it now," added the 23-year-old, sending out an ominous signal to her competitors in Rio after a week that also saw her collect scratch race gold and team pursuit bronze. 

• See also: Track World Championships: Trott back on top with omnium victory

Eilers doubles up with Keirin title

Joachim Eilers capped a brilliant week in London by taking gold in the men’s Keirin on Sunday afternoon. The German was the strongest in a sprint that was fired up early and, having come to the front with a couple of laps to go he managed to hold his speed all the way to the line.

Ed Dawkins (New Zealand) was a not very close second, while Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) took a second consecutive bronze medal in the discipline.

“I rode two laps at the front and no one was able to catch me – it was absolutely crazy,” he said before collecting his medal from the podium.

“I won two World Cups, was the World Cup leader, and now world champion, so I hope at the Olympics I can do it again,” he added, pointing to his rich vein of recent form and heightened expectations ahead of Rio this summer.

There were roars of approval inside the London velodrome as Jason Kenny wound up his sprint but then confused silence as the recently-crowned sprint champion, having had to start from behind, cracked and sat up with half a lap to go.

Zhong cruises to sprint gold in all-China final

Tianshi Zhong was a dominant force in the women’s sprint competition, beating defending champion Kristina Vogel (Germany) in the semifinal before comfortably seeing off Lin Junhong in an all-Chinese final.

The 25-year-old, who won gold in the team sprint at last year’s Worlds, only needed two rounds to get past both competitors in the best-of-three match ups. In the gold medal-winning ride, Junhong led out into the final lap but Zhong came round with ease and by the line her advantage was a good few bike lengths.

The bronze medal went to Vogel, who eased past Olympic champion Anna Meares (Australia) in the third/fourth place ride, taking it 2-0.

Women's Omnium 500m Time Trial

Following an exhilarating elimination race to close proceedings on day four, the women’s omnium picked up once again in the penultimate session of the Track World Championships. The 20 riders had a 500-metre test against the clock with Australia’s Annette Edmondson bouncing back from a disappointing opening few events to take the victory.

Edmondson’s time of 35.095 was just under five hundredths of a second quicker than Laurie Berthon of France. She remained fifth in the overall classification but has closed the gap with two events still to go. Laura Trott (Great Britain) put some distance between herself and Sarah Hammer (United States) at the top of the standings with third place in the time trial. 14 points now separate the two after Hammer could only manage 10th.

Women's Individual Sprint – Quarter Finals

The women’s sprint competition also resumed after the qualification rounds of Saturday morning. The match-up of the round was heat one where Australian teammates Anna Meares and Stephanie Morton went head to head. Meares claimed victory in the opening bout but Morton forced it to a decider by claiming the second by a fine margin. It was not so close in the final round as Meares took the initiative and beat Morton by more than a bike’s length.

Defending champion Kristina Vogel (Germany) made it through in two straight fights, despite the best efforts of Natasha Hansen (New Zealand). China got both their riders through to the next round with Lin Junhong and Tianshi Zhong taking it in two also.

Men's Keirin

There were a few surprises in the opening round of the Keirin as two of last year’s medallists failed to automatically qualify and had to go through the repechage. Defending champion Francois Pervis (France) completely blew up in the final lap of his heat and trailed home in last place, continuing a terrible competition for the French team.

Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) found himself boxed in during his heat, which only saw four riders finish after a crash, and took third. Newly crowned sprint champion Jason Kenny (Great Britain) had no such problems, sailing through as the winner of the heat. The man who finished second to Kenny in the individual sprint, Matthew Glaetzer (Australia), was also sent packing into the repechage.

Edward Dawkins (New Zealand) was the only rider from the 2015 podium to make it through cleanly, finishing second to Yuta Wakimoto heat two. Dawkins’ teammate Sam Webster also went through into round two, which will be the first event up in the afternoon session.

Pervis and Awang would salvage their Keirin competition in the repechage by winning their heats. Glaetzer didn't go as well and found himself out of the competition sooner than he would have wanted. 

Women's Omnium Flying Lap

Consistency has been the watch word for Laura Trott and while she hadn’t won an event yet she has been in the top three in each one. Trott continued that run with third place in the flying lap to extend her lead in the overall competition. Laurie Berthon moved herself up to second overall with a solid performance to take the third fastest time. Sarah Hammer, who does not favour the short events, slipped down to third while Annette Edmondson moved up a position into fourth.

Canada’s Alison Beveridge posted the quickest time of the event as the only rider to break the 14-second barrier. Her time of 13.924 also broke the velodrome record set by Trott as she rode to victory in the Olympic Games.

The omnium will conclude with the points race during the evening session.

Men's Madison Final

Women's Omnium final standings