Day One – Track World Championships

On March 2–6, London, the capital of the United Kingdom, hosted the second most important competition in the track cycling world: the Track World Championships. In the track cycling family the Olympic Games are considered the most prestigious, but the rainbow jersey is highly valued here too, and the races were of a matching level.

On the first day four sets of medals were decided:
• women’s individual pursuit;
• men’s scratch;
• women’s team sprint;
• men’s team sprint.

Individual pursuit – the distance is 4 kilometers (16 laps) for men and 3 kilometers (12 laps) for women. The riders start on opposite sides of the track and chase each other. The winner is the one who catches the opponent or sets the better time. Based on the times in the qualifying rounds, the two best meet in the gold final and the next two in the bronze final. Currently a non-Olympic event, it has been on the World Championship program since 1946 for men and since 1958 for women.

The first gold of this year’s World Championships was contested by the women in the individual pursuit.

2 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Women Individual Pursuit Finals
1st : WIASAK Rebecca (AUS)
2nd : WOJTYRA Malgorzata (POL)
3rd : FOREMAN-MACKEY Annie (CAN)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

In the bronze final Canada’s Annie Foreman-Mackey (3:36.055) beat American Ruth Winder (3:39.902), while the gold went to Australia’s Rebecca Wiasak (3:34.099), who beat Poland’s Małgorzata Wojtyra (3:41.904).

2 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Women Individual Pursuit Finals
1st : WIASAK Rebecca (AUS)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Men’s scratch – an individual mass-start race. Men race over 15 kilometers, women over 10. The winner is the first to cover the set distance. The scratch is not part of the Olympic program.

The second set of medals was decided in the men’s scratch, where first place and the world title went to Spain’s Sebastián Mora; joining him on the very honorable podium were Mexico’s Ignacio Prado and Switzerland’s Claudio Imhof.

2 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Men Scratch Final
1st : MORA Sebastian (ESP)
2nd : PRADO Ignacio (MEX)
3rd : IMHOF Claudio (SUI)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Team sprint – the winner is decided over 3 laps for men’s teams and 2 laps for women’s. Accordingly, teams have 3 and 2 riders. Teams start on opposite sides of the track, and each team member must lead for one lap. The time is taken on the team’s last rider. The two teams with the best qualifying times race in the gold final, and the next two in the bronze final. The team sprint, for both men and women, is one of the five track events on the Olympic program. It has been held at the World Championships since 1995 and 2007 respectively.

The first day of the World Championships ended with the Olympic events. First the women decided their world champions: the title went to the Russian team after the Chinese team was relegated. The men’s world title was won by New Zealand.

Women’s team sprint:
1. Russia;
2. China;
3. Germany;
4. Australia.

2 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Women Team Sprint
1st : RUSSIA
SHMELEVA Daria
VOINOVA Anastasiia
2nd : CHINA
GONG Jinjie
ZHONG Tianshi
3rd : GERMANY
WELTE Miriam
VOGEL Kristina
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Men’s team sprint:
1. New Zealand;
2. Netherlands;
3. Germany;
4. France.

2 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Men Team Sprint
1st : NEW ZEALAND
MITCHELL Ethan
WEBSTER Sam
DAWKINS Edward
2nd : NETHERLANDS
VAN ‘THOENDERDAAL Nils
HOOGLAND Jeffrey
BUCHLI Matthijs
3rd : GERMANY
ENDERS Rene
NIEDERLAG Max
EILERS Joachim
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Featured image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com
Inside post thumbnail image: 2016 UCI TRACK CYCLING WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS LONDON LOGO/www.trackcyclingworlds2016.london

Special thanks to the Japanese photographer Yuzuru SUNADA for permission to use his works in our publications.

Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.