Germany’s track trio Lea Friedrich, Emma Hinze and Pauline Grabosch on Thursday powered to a fourth successive gold medal in the team sprint and set a world record in the process at the first combined UCI World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
An 11-day feast of cycling spanning all the disciplines began on the boards of the Chris Hoy Velodrome and Germany’s speed merchants stole the show.
In a gripping final, they narrowly edged out Britain’s Lauren Bell, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane, clocking a time of 45.848 seconds to lower their own mark set last year.
Photo: Reuters
Britain also broke the old world record as they claimed their best result in the discipline for 12 years.
Chloe Dygert of the US romped to victory in the women’s individual 3km pursuit — lapping Germany’s Franziska Brausse on the final lap. It was Dygert’s first major medal since 2020, since when she has had three surgeries on a serious leg injury suffered at the 2020 Road World Championships.
Dygert looked underwhelmed after crossing the line in 3 minutes, 17.542 seconds, shaking her head in disappointment at not lowering her own world record set in Berlin in 2020.
“It feels really special, hearing the national anthem again, because it’s been a long three years,” the 26-year-old said.
A day that began in disappointing fashion for Britain when their men’s team pursuit squad crashed out in qualifying ended on a high as William Tidball stormed to gold in the men’s scratch race.
Tidball surged from the pack on the last lap of 60 around the wooden oval and crossed the line in first place ahead of Japan’s Kazushige Kuboki.
“To come here and become world champion at the first time of asking is what dreams are made of,” Tidball, who tucked himself in the main pack throughout the race, told reporters. “I thought I had left it a bit late. One of the riders died off. In that last bit, I was holding on and praying nobody would get round me.”
Germany’s women have dominated the team sprint at world championships since 2020, although they missed out on gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, beaten by China, but they served notice they would again be the benchmark in Paris next year with a masterful race to hold at bay a youthful trio who looked on course to win Britain’s first gold in the women’s team sprint since 2008.
World champions Britain will not be contesting the blue-riband team pursuit medal battle today, though, after calamity struck in the qualifiers.
With the finishing line in sight, Charlie Tanfield fell heavily, meaning only two riders crossed the line.
Tanfield, who also crashed during the Tokyo Olympics, had slipped slightly behind his teammates Dan Bigham and Ethan Vernon, with Oliver Wood already having dropped out.
He appeared to lose grip on the blue line on the inside of the track and crashed hard, sustaining concussion.
Denmark’s Niklas Larsen, Carl-Frederik Bevort, Frederik Madsen and Lasse Leth topped the qualifying times with 3:46.816, as New Zealand and Italy rounded out the top three.
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