The first day of competition at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships, held from 16 to 20 October in Ballerup, Denmark, already set the Ballerup Super Arena alight with three titles fiercely contested. Harrie Lavreysen and his Dutch sprint partners claimed yet another victory, the British women’s sprint team confirmed their superiority and Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) impressed as she took her first UCI World Champion title.
Historic performances in the men’s team sprint
Harrie Lavreysen was once again crowned UCI World Champion alongside his powerful companions Roy van den Berg and Jeffrey Hoogland. It was a sixth title for the Oranje stars over the last seven editions of the men’s team sprint event, and 14th UCI World Champion title for Lavreysen, who joins France’s Arnaud Tournant as the rider with the most UCI Track World Champion titles.
Strong in the qualification, the trio eventually got the better of Australia (42.046 vs 42.673), just a couple of months after they dominated the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Moments earlier, Japan’s Yoshitaku Nagasako, Yuta Obara and Kaiya Ota had already impressed as they beat the British team to claim the first medal ever for their country in the men’s team sprint event.
“After the Olympics, it was pretty hard to focus again but we’re really happy with 2024 with the UCI World and Olympic titles”, Lavreysen said before Hoogland gave some insight into the Dutch triumph: “Because we’ve been doing it for years, we know exactly what the others do, when to accelerate, when to stay calm… Every race gets more and more perfect.”
Women’s team sprint: Team GB back on top
Another dominant team from the Olympic Games, Great Britain’s Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant, followed up with strong performances throughout the day.
With the best time already in the qualification, the trio went on to rule the first round, before facing the Netherlands in the final. Kimberley Kalee, Steffie van der Peet and Hetty van de Wouw gave their best (46.593) but the British sprinters were on another level (45.949) and took the rainbow jersey.
“After winning the Olympics with these two, we’ve had an incredible summer,” Finucane said. “This is our first UCI World Champions title in sprint team and it’s been an incredible season. We’re just really proud of what we’ve done. We get to add a rainbow jersey. And we’re still hungry for more!”
Australia with Molly McGill, Kristina Clonan and Alessia McCaig got the better of Germany’s Lara-Sophie Jäger, Clara Schneider and Alessa-Catriona Pröpster (47.358 vs 48.188) to bring Australia the first UCI World Championships medal in the women’s team sprint since 2020.
Lorena Wiebes debuts with a gold medal
Two former UCI World Champions lined up against each other in the women’s scratch race, USA’s Jennifer Valente, crowned last year, and Italy’s Martina Fidanza (2021 and 2022), but neither could stop Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes. As one of the most decorated riders in the UCI Women’s WorldTour, and recently bronze medallist in the UCI Gravel World Championships, she participated for the first time in the Tissot UCI Track World Championships.
After early attacks from France’s Marion Borras and Spain’s Marina Garau Roca, the Dutch star powered to the front just before the final lap, and took the victory ahead of Valente on second place and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston on third.
“The most important thing is to have fun and it’s also a nice experience for me to be on the track,” Wiebes rejoiced. “And it worked out perfectly! I hope to do some more track races next year and to show this rainbow jersey. It’s an amazing experience and it’s quite crazy.”
Great Britain, China and Denmark to battle it out in the team pursuit
The British team, with Katie Archibald, Megan Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris, clocked the best time (4:11.868) in the women’s team pursuit and will face China in Thursday’s final, while Italy and Germany will fight for the bronze medal.
The men’s event will see home nation Denmark with Carl-Frederik Bevort, Niklas Larsen, Frederik Madsen and Tobias Hansen, try to defend the title they took last year, as they go up against Great Britain. Competing for the bronze will be Japan and Germany.