Track Worlds: Dygert dominant in pursuit, Dmitriev finally sprint champion

Day four of the UCI Track World Championships in Hong Kong saw history made with Belgium crowned the first world champions of the women’s madison. Russia dominated the sprint events with victory in the men’s individual sprint, and gold and bronze in the women’s 500-meter time trial.

Chloe Dygert (USA) showed that she is a force to be reckoned with after blasting to victory in the women’s individual pursuit, while France’s Benjamin Thomas scored a hard-won victory in a tense finale to the men’s omnium.

The first medals of the day were awarded in the women’s 500 metre time trial. Two-time defending champion Anastasiis Voinova set the benchmark in qualifying during the morning session, but it was her teammate Daria Shmeleva who dug deep to improve her time on the effort that mattered to win the gold medal, while Voinova claimed third. It is Shmeleva’s second gold of the competition after winning the team sprint with Voinova earlier in the week. Germany’s Miriam Welte, who failed to medal last season, slotted herself between the two Russians in the silver medal position.

After Archibald won the women’s omnium on day three, it was the turn of the male endurance riders to test their form in the new four-event competition. None of last year’s medallists were on the start line but that wouldn’t stop it from being a thrilling battle between the field. Spain’s Albert Torres set his stall out early with victory in the opening round of the scratch race and second in the following tempo race. After a disappointing start, Aaron Gate put himself back in the game by beating Torres in the tempo event.

Following the tempo, the omnium took a break until they picked things up again with the elimination race in the evening session. It would be a crash packed return to action for the peloton, for Poland’s Szymon Sajnok in particular who hit the deck twice during the competition, dropping him down the standings overall. Gate was another big loser, finishing just 10th, while Australia’s Sam Welsford put on a good show to take the maximum points.

The points race would once again prove the decider, and after losing out in the elimination race, Gate took the event by the horns and attacked whenever he could. Gate looked like he might just make the jump from fifth up to first, and even had some help from Welsford, but the ever-consistent Thomas – who had begun the final event in second place – launched a long-range sprint on the final lap to take enough points to seal victory by just two points. Gate had to settle for second place, while Torres dropped from first ahead of the points race to third place. Gate and Welsford would later be given a warning from the commissaires for collusion.

Fresh from the taste of gold in the team pursuit, Dygert added another chuck of metal to her cabnet with success in the individual competition. Dygert had come within fractions of a second of setting the world record in qualifying, missing it by a little over half a second. While she went two seconds slower in the gold medal ride, it was more than enough to see-off Ashlee Ankudinoff to claim victory. Kelly Catlin made it a second medal for the USA when she beat defending champion Rebecca Wiasak for the bronze medal.

The women’s madison made its debut at the World Championships on day four and it was as action packed as could be expected. There were some early crashes, with Australia’s Alexandra Manly coming down hard twice after complications in the change. Despite the crashes, Manly and her teammate Amy Cure were consistently in the mix for the points. Great Britain set their stall out early by taking the full five points on the first sprint but Belgium came back strong, winning four of the 12 sprints, including the crucial final lap.

The pairing of Lotte Kopecky and Jolien D’hoore won by 10 points over the British duo Elinor Barker and Emily Nelson. It would have been more but Belgium were relegated in sprint 10 after Kopecky moved into the sprinters line and forced Barker off the track. A battered and bruised Australia took the final spot on the podium.

In the men’s sprint, Matthew Glaetzer and Max Niederlag found themselves dumped out of the quarterfinals after they were both relegated for irregular movement. That was good news for Britain’s Ryan Owens and New Zealand’s Ethan Mitchell, who progressed into the semi-finals. They would both be beaten and Mitchell got the bettering of Owens to take the bronze.

For the gold medal, Denis Dmitriev went up against the young Dutchman Harrie Levreysen. After a close call last year against Jason Kenny, this would be Dmitriev’s best chance at a world title in some time. The Russian did not need to be asked twice and claimed the gold medal in two straightforward competitions.

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