The next big track event is nearly upon us, with the UCI Track Champions League to be broadcast on SBS On Demand from November 7.
The track world championships at the STAB velodrome in Roubaix, France certainly did not disappoint despite their scheduling relatively soon after the Tokyo Olympics. What might have been a down year as track programs around the world reset their sights for the next Olympic cycle turned out to be anything but, with thrilling, top-quality racing every session.
Here are the top five men’s races from the event, with highlights for you to catch-up on the action if you missed, with full replays of the competition also available via SBS On Demand.
1. Men’s Points Race
It was billed as a race for the stars of the boards to come out and battle for the win, but it quickly sharpened focus into an enthralling duel between Benjamin Thomas of France and Kenny De Ketele of Belgium. The 36-year-old Belgian planned on retiring at the end of the championships, drawing to a close his impressive career, while Thomas is very much in the prime of his, at just 26 and with four world titles to his name.
De Ketele held a significant lead midway through the race after they had established a big lead on their competitors with laps taken. However, Thomas came home with a seemingly indefatigable run of sprints, taking points on De Ketele each time to overcome and win the world title.
2. Men’s Sprint
The Dutch sprinters showed throughout the competition that they are the strongest by far, winning the team sprint, the keirin and the kilo. The men’s sprint was one of the few occasions where they could properly sort out the pecking order amongst them, and again it was Harrie Lavreysen who proved himself the dominant man in world sprinting.
He claimed his third consecutive world title, and looks to be the man for everyone else to beat whenever he’s on track.
3. Men’s Madison
The Madison was perhaps the most anticipated event of the meet, falling on the final day with a lot of big names all searching for the chance to take the victory. Morkov/Hansen for Denmark, Hayter/Wood for Great Britain, Gate/Strong for New Zealand, Thomas/Kniesky for France and De Ketele/Ghys for Belgium were some of the names touted as likely winners, though the likes of Australian pair Plapp/O’Brien and the Italians of Scartezzini/Consonni were dangerous outsiders.
The Italians made the most of their more fancied rivals looking at each other in the early stages, claiming a lap early to put themselves right in the fight for the win. As the 200-lap race continued the strength of the big teams became clear, with the likes of Denmark, Belgium, Great Britian and France picking up sprints, and then laps as the race began to break apart.
It was a confusing mess at times, but what was clear was the strength of the top teams and their riders, and that the race was on a knife’s edge. All the podium positions could have changed on the final sprint, but in the end it was the Danes that held onto top spot, the Italians in second and the Belgians leaping up to third, though there were just ten points between the top five teams.
4. Men’s 1 km TT
If you want to see the raw power of the strongest cyclist in the world propelling himself around the track this is the highlight to watch. Simply awesome to witness.
5. Men’s Teams Pursuit
If the men’s Madison was the most anticipated, the teams pursuit was a close second. The blue-riband event had provided plenty of drama at the Olympics and while the crashes were fortunately not a part of the world championships, there were upsets and top-tier performances to excite everyone watching.
The final saw a Filippo Ganna-led Italy triumph to back up their Olympic gold, but not before being pushed hard into the final laps of the race by a surprising display from the French team with the talismanic Benjamin Thomas, urged on by the home crowd.
Notable others:
If you didn’t get enough of Lavreysen’s domination in the spint, here he is leading from the front in the Keirin, just so powerful to take the win in style.
Strange to say, but this is the first world championships title for Italian road and track star Elia Viviani. Of course, he’s already got an Olympic gold medal in the Omnium to prove his prowess, but it’s fitting that he claimed his first-ever rainbow jersey in a new event at the world championships, the elimination.
It wasn’t the much-hyped Filippo Ganna vs Ashton Lambie battle in the men’s individual pursuit for gold, but both put on a show in the finals regardless.
From an Australian perspective, it was a forgettable event, with only five athletes in competition for the Australians due to curtailed AusCycling travel to international events brought about by COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Solid performances in the women’s madison by Georgia Baker and Alex Manly saw the pair claim sixth, while Lucas Plapp and Kell O’Brien were good for eighth in the men’s madison.
Check out this interview with Kell O'Brien to find out what he was thinking ahead of the championships, as well as his budding career on the road with Team BikeExchange.
