Day Two – Track World Championships

On the second day of the London World Championships four sets of medals were decided:

• men’s individual time trial (1 kilometer);
• women’s scratch;
• women’s keirin;
• men’s team pursuit.

Men’s individual time trial (1 kilometer) – a standing-start time trial over 1 kilometer for men and 0.5 kilometers for women. The start is from a special starting gate; once it opens, the rider covers the set distance. The winner is the one who covers it in the shortest time. The event is not on the Olympic program.

The best time was set by Germany’s Joachim Eilers (1:00.042), who took the day’s first rainbow jersey. Second on the podium was Dutchman Theo Bos (1:00.461) and third Frenchman Quentin Lafargue (1:01.581). Worth noting is the winner’s average speed, which reached 59.958 kilometers per hour.

3 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Men 1km TT Final
1st : EILERS Joachim (GER)
2nd : BOS Theo (NED)
3rd : LAFARGUE Quentin (FRA)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Women’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.

In the women’s scratch the title went to the legendary rider, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)), Laura Trott. For the multiple Olympic and world champion it is her first gold in this event, and with the Olympic Games approaching, Laura’s form gives great hope to her huge army of fans — all the more so since later she also gave nobody the omnium, which has become almost her personal prize.

3 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Women Scratch Final
1st : TROTT Laura (GBR)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Laura’s latest golden race

Women’s keirin – a race of Japanese origin with 7 riders for men and 6 for women starting from the line. At first the riders follow a pacer, the so-called derny (an electric bike), which leads the race for 1,400 meters (5.5 laps). The derny raises the speed from 30 to 50 km/h for men and from 25 to 45 km/h for women, and leaves the track 600 meters (2.5 laps) before the finish, after which the riders open their sprint. The winner is the first to reach the finish line within the rules. The keirin is on the Olympic program.

As expected, the decisive sprint in the women’s keirin was fought between Germany’s Kristina Vogel, Australia’s Anna Meares, Britain’s Rebecca (Becky) James and China’s Guo Shuang. These four won the title six times in the previous seven World Championships: Becky James in 2013, Kristina Vogel in 2014 and Anna Meares in 2015 — the legendary Australian had also worn the rainbow jersey in 2011 and 2012 — while back in 2009 the Chinese rider won. This time the German gave nobody first place and, winning the dream final, took the keirin world title for the second time; Anna and Becky had to settle for the podium, and the Chinese veteran finished fourth.

3 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Women Keirin Finals
1st : VOGEL Kristina (GER)
2nd : MEARES Anna (AUS)
3rd : JAMES Rebecca (GBR)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Women’s keirin gold final

Men’s team pursuit – a team endurance race over a 4-kilometer distance. Teams of both men and women consist of four riders. Qualifying is held with separate starts, and its results determine four final pursuit pairings: the two fastest teams in the gold final, and so on. In the final races the opposing teams start on opposite sides of the track. The winner is the team that catches its opponent or sets the better time.

At the end of the day the tension at the London velodrome reached its peak: the program was crowned by the men’s team pursuit, where the British hoped for another gold. After all, their team was led around the oval by Knight Bachelor (Knight Bachelor (Kt)), Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE)), cycling legend Sir Bradley Wiggins.

As expected, the final was tense. The Australians were ahead for the whole race; in the last laps, with Sir Bradley leading, the British turned things around and went ahead, but on the very last lap before the finish the British team lost its cohesion, and first place went to the Australians.

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Australia’s Michael Hepburn after the race

3 March 2016
Track World Championships (London, UK)
Men Team Pursuit Finals
HEPBURN Michael (AUS) Orica – GreenEDGE
WIGGINS Bradley (GBR)
Photo : Yuzuru SUNADA

Men’s team pursuit gold final

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.