Day 2 Track Worlds: Italy's Paternoster wins first-ever women's rainbow jersey in Elimination race

Day 2 of the UCI Track World Championships in Roubaix, France crowned champions in five events. The final rainbow jersey awarded on Thursday was the first time a champion had been crowned in the Elimination race for women.

Letizia Paternoster of Italy took the historic winner’s prize, making her move to the front of the race in turn three of final lap. She launched ahead of Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) and held her advantage through the straightaway to the finish line for the gold medal. Kopecky could not overcome the final acceleration of the Italian and rolled across the line on her back wheel for silver. 

The bronze medal would go to Jennifer Valente (United States of America), who was third in the Scratch race on Wednesday.

Italy and Germany defend titles in Team Pursuit

Italy struck gold for a second time in the men's Team Pursuit and Germany in the women's Team Pursuit, both teams having won the top prize at the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.

The Italian men backed up their Olympic gold with the world title in Roubaix on Thursday, comprised in the final of  Liam Bertazzo, Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan. 

The silver medal went to the French team of Thomas Boudat, Thomas Denis, Valentin Tabellion and Benjamin Thomas. 

Great Britain took advantage of mistakes by Denmark, who fell apart in the final round and could not stay together, and won the bronze medal with Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon, Charlie Tanfield and Oliver Wood. 

It was the first World title in the Men’s Team Pursuit for Italy in 24 years, last taking the title in back-to-back years in 1997 in Perth and 1996 in Manchester.

“We listened to people at the track for support of the French, but we believed all race to the last metre [in our ability] and we are very happy. Obviously, this rainbow jersey, after 25 [sic] years and in the same year as the gold medal in the Olympics is really important for us,” Ganna said at the conclusion of the race.

For France, it was the first time back on the podium in the discipline since a bronze in 2000 in Manchester. Hayter, Tanfield and Emadi and Wood were four of the five riders on the British team who won silver in 2019. 

Germany won its second team gold in two days, holding off Italy in the Women’s Team Pursuit. The German trio of Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer and Laura Seussemilch made up time after the first 1,000 metres to keep the lead at the end for a dominant win. Mieke Kroeger was part of the four-rider team to be awarded the gold. The Italian squad was comprised of reigning road World Champion Elisa Balsamo, Martina Alzini, Chiara Consonni and Martina Fidanza.

It was the first time Germany has won the Team Pursuit gold at the World Championships, having won two bronze medals in the past 14 years. Like the Italian men, the German women also won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, that team which included Brausse, Brennauer, and Kroeger.

The bronze medal matchup between Great Britain and Canada was taken by Great Britain, represented in the final by Katie Archibald, Megan Barker and Josie Knight.

Frenchman Grondin wins Scratch, Dutchman Lavreysen wins Keirin

France took its first gold medal of their home World Championships in the men’s Scratch race with Donavan Grondin (France). He started his sprint around the final turn and held off a charging peloton, with Tuur Dens (Germany) in second and Rhys Britton (Great Britain) in third. 

In the men’s Keirin, the Dutch duo of Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland doubled up to finish one-two. Lavreysen defended his rainbow jersey and took the win by a bike length over Hoogland. The bronze medal went to Mikhail Iakovlev (Russian Cycling Federation).

Women's Elimination Race

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Women's Elimination Race
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Letizia Paternoster (Italy)
2Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)
3Jennifer Valente (United States of America)
4Mariia Novolodskaia (Russian Cycling Federation)
5Olivija Baleisyte (Lithuania)
6Aksana Salauyeva (Belarus)
7Valentine Fortin (France)
8Michelle Andres (Switzerland)
9Eukene Larrarte Arteaga (Spain)
10Rinata Sultanova (Kazakhstan)
11Lina Mabel Rojas Zapata (Colombia)
12Alzbeta Bacikova (Slovakia)
13Yumi Kajihara (Japan)
14Kseniia Fedotova (Ukraine)
15Nikol Plosaj (Poland)
16Ella Barnwell (Great Britain)
17Anita Yvonne Stenberg (Norway)
18Yareli Acevedo Mendoza (Mexico)
19Petra Sevcikova (Czech Republic)
20Sarah Van Dam (Canada)
21Tawakalt Yekeen (Nigeria)
DNSMaria Martins (Portugal)

Women's Team Pursuit Final

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Women's Team Pursuit - Final for Gold
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Germany 0:04:08.752
Row 1 - Cell 0 Franziska Brausse (Germany)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Lisa Brennauer (Germany)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Mieke Kroeger (Germany)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Laura Suessemilch (Germany)
2Italy 0:04:13.690
Row 6 - Cell 0 Elisa Balsamo (Italy)
Row 7 - Cell 0 Martina Alzini (Italy)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Chiara Consonni (Italy)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Martina Fidanza (Italy)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Letizia Paternoster (Italy)
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Women's Team Pursuit - Final for Bronze
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
3Great Britain 0:04:17.359
Row 1 - Cell 0 Katie Archibald (Great Britain)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Megan Barker (Great Britain)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Neah Evans (Great Britain)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Josie Knight (Great Britain)
4Canada 0:04:22.889
Row 6 - Cell 0 Ngaire Barraclough (Canada)
Row 7 - Cell 0 Erin Attwell (Canada)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Maggie Coles-lyster (Canada)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Devaney Collier (Canada)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Sarah Van Dam (Canada)
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Women's Team Pursuit - 5th through 8th
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
5Ireland
Row 1 - Cell 0 Mia Griffin (Ireland)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Emily Kay (Ireland)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Kelly Murphy (Ireland)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Alice Sharpe (Ireland)
6Poland
Row 6 - Cell 0 Nikol Plosaj (Poland)
Row 7 - Cell 0 Karolina Karasiewicz (Poland)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Daria Pikulik (Poland)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Wiktoria Pikulik (Poland)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Patrycja Lorkowska (Poland)
7Belarus
Row 12 - Cell 0 Hanna Tserakh (Belarus)
Row 13 - Cell 0 Aksana Salauyeva (Belarus)
Row 14 - Cell 0 Nastassia Kiptsikava (Belarus)
Row 15 - Cell 0 Taisa Naskovich (Belarus)
8Switzerland
Row 17 - Cell 0 Aline Seitz (Switzerland)
Row 18 - Cell 0 Michelle Andres (Switzerland)
Row 19 - Cell 0 Fabienne Buri (Switzerland)
Row 20 - Cell 0 Lena Mettraux (Switzerland)

Men's Team Pursuit Final

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Men's Team Pursuit - Final for Gold
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Italy 0:03:47.192
Row 1 - Cell 0 Liam Bertazzo (Italy)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Simone Consonni (Italy)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Filippo Ganna (Italy)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Jonathan Milan (Italy)
Row 5 - Cell 0 Francesco Lamon (Italy)
2France 0:03:49.168
Row 7 - Cell 0 Thomas Boudat (France)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Thomas Denis (France)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Valentin Tabellion (France)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Benjamin Thomas (France)
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Men's team Pursuit - Final for Bronze
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
3Great Britain 0:03:51.205
Row 1 - Cell 0 Ethan Hayter (Great Britain)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Ethan Vernon (Great Britain)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Charlie Tanfield (Great Britain)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Oliver Wood (Great Britain)
Row 5 - Cell 0 Kian Emadi (Great Britain)
4Denmark 0:03:53.182
Row 7 - Cell 0 Matias Malmberg (Denmark)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Tobias Hansen (Denmark)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Carl-Frederik Bevort (Denmark)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Rasmus Pedersen (Denmark)
Row 11 - Cell 0 Robin Skivild (Denmark)
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Men's Team Pursuit - Fifth through eighth
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
5Switzerland
Row 1 - Cell 0 Claudio Imhof (Switzerland)
Row 2 - Cell 0 Lukas Ruegg (Switzerland)
Row 3 - Cell 0 Valere Thiebaud (Switzerland)
Row 4 - Cell 0 Alex Vogel (Switzerland)
Row 5 - Cell 0 Simon Vitzthum (Switzerland)
6Russian Cycling Federation
Row 7 - Cell 0 Gleb Syritsa (Russian Cycling Federation)
Row 8 - Cell 0 Lev Gonov (Russian Cycling Federation)
Row 9 - Cell 0 Egor Igoshev (Russian Cycling Federation)
Row 10 - Cell 0 Ivan Novolodskii (Russian Cycling Federation)
7Germany
Row 12 - Cell 0 Tobias Buck-gramcko (Germany)
Row 13 - Cell 0 Nicolas Heinrich (Germany)
Row 14 - Cell 0 Pierre-Pascal Keup (Germany)
Row 15 - Cell 0 Theo Reinhardt (Germany)
8Poland
Row 17 - Cell 0 Alan Banaszek (Poland)
Row 18 - Cell 0 Szymon Krawczyk (Poland)
Row 19 - Cell 0 Bartosz Rudyk (Poland)
Row 20 - Cell 0 Szymon Sajnok (Poland)
Row 21 - Cell 0 Daniel Staniszewski (Poland)

Men's Scratch Race Final

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Men's Scratch Race Final
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Donavan Grondin (France)
2Tuur Dens (Belgium)
3Rhys Britton (Great Britain)
4Roy Eefting (Netherlands)
5Kazushige Kuboki (Japan)
6Daniel Babor (Czech Republic)
7Tim Torn Teutenberg (Germany)
8Tobias Hansen (Denmark)
9Elia Viviani (Italy)
10Rui Oliveira (Portugal)
11Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spain)
12Robin Froidevaux (Switzerland)
13Sergei Rostovtsev (Russian Cycling Federation)
14Yauheni Karaliok (Belarus)
15Roman Gladysh (Ukraine)
16Bartosz Rudyk (Poland)
17Krisztian Lovassy (Hungary)
18Maximilian Schmidbauer (Austria)
19Gavin Hoover (United States of America)
20Yacine Chalel (Algeria)
21Akil Campbell (Trinidad and Tobago)
22Martin Chren (Slovakia)

Men's Keirin Final

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Men's Keirin Final
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands)
2Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands)
3Mikhail Iakovlev (Russian Cycling Federation)
4Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago)
5Kento Yamasaki (Japan)
6Rayan Helal (France)
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Men's Keirin - 7th through 12th
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
7Stefan Boetticher (Germany)
8Jai Angsuthasawit (Thailand)
9Hugo Barrette (Canada)
10Sebastien Vigier (France)
11Koyu Matsui (Japan)
11Jair Tjon en Fa (Suriname)

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