2025 Tissot UCI Track World Championships: A night for Team GB and the Dutch

Two nations share the glory on Friday

Five rainbow jerseys were awarded on Friday, the third day of competition at the Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Santiago (Chile). The Netherlands took three more rainbow jerseys with Harrie Lavreysen’s triumph in the men’s kilometre time trial, Lorena Wiebes' in the women’s omnium and Hetty van de Wow’s in the women’s sprint. Joshua Tarling (men’s points race) and Josh Charlton (men’s individual pursuit) brought Team GB two gold medals.

Men’s points race: Tarling rules

The session opened with a thriller that crowned Great Britain’s Joshua Tarling in the men’s point race. A former Junior UCI World Champion on the road (winner of the individual time trial in 2022) and a dominant force in the UCI WorldTour, the 21-year-old powerhouse claimed his first Elite rainbow jersey through a commanding performance, taking one lap on the field and achieving a total of 56 points.

“The rainbow jersey stays with you forever,” Tarling rejoiced. “I’ll have it up in the house and it’ll look super nice. It’s a perfect way to end the season.”

The USA’s Peter Moore was the only contender to take two laps on the field, eventually scoring 48 points and claiming the silver medal. Clément Petit won the final sprint to snatch third place (41 points) and take France’s first medal in Santiago.

Men’s kilometre time trial: Lavreysen displays raw power

Make it three titles for the Netherlands’ Harrie Lavreysen in Santiago, and 19 rainbow jerseys for the Oranje history maker, who used his stunning power to rule the kilometre time trial on Friday.

The eventual winner was trailing behind his teammate Jeffrey Hoogland after 750 metres but turned the tables with a finish time of 57.978 (62.093km/h), against 58.163 (61.895km/h) for his countryman. Great Britain’s Joseph Truman rounded out the podium (+1.290).

Lavreysen will now aim for a 20th UCI Track World Champion in the individual sprint, starting from Saturday. A fourth rainbow jersey in the same edition would be unprecedented for him.

“I felt really strong this morning and rode a really good kilometre [57.681] but tonight was pretty hard. I felt the legs and it was really close on the finish line,” Lavreysen said. “I hope to recover well from this. Tomorrow will be hard and I hope I can make it to Sunday and go for [a 20th rainbow jersey]”

Men’s individual pursuit: Charlton steps up

A two-time silver medallist last year (in the individual pursuit and team pursuit), Great Britain’s Josh Charlton claimed the rainbow jersey in Santiago as he beat Denmark’s Rasmus Pedersen in the final of the individual pursuit. The 22-year-old rider covered the 4,000 metres in 4:04.122 (58.987 km/h) to get the better of his Danish rival (+3.374), crowned on Thursday in the team pursuit.

“From last year, the big goal coming into this season was to go one step bigger and it just feels incredible to pull it off, it’s been a long time coming,” said Charlton as he became the first British winner of the individual pursuit since Bradley Wiggins (2003, 2007, 2008). The bronze medal went to the USA’s Anders Johnson.

Women’s omnium: Wiebes is unstoppable

The Netherlands Lorena Wiebes continued her extraordinary streak of rainbow success: winner of the Bolero UCI Gravel World Championships a couple of weeks ago, crowned again in the scratch two days ago on the opening night of the Tissot UCI Track World Championships, and now ruler of the omnium as well.

Although she led the standings after strong performances in the scratch (1st), the tempo race (6th) and the elimination (1st), the Oranje star had to battle all the way to the final sprint of the points race to get the better of France’s Marion Borras, who had taken the lead with a daring attack. Wiebes eventually took the win with 136 points, 9 more than Borras. Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen rounds out the podium (120 points).

“I’m really happy to be also first in the omnium,” Wiebes said. “It was a bit about seeing what I could do here and I’m really happy overall. At the end, the points race was really important, going all out in that final sprint. [Marion Borras] is a really strong rider so I tried to keep my head cool and focused on the last sprint.”

Women’s sprint: Van de Wouw enforces Oranje dominance

Dutch powerhouses rule supreme in Santiago, as illustrated by Hetty van de Wouw in the women’s sprint to cap off an electric evening. Already winner of the women’s team pursuit, the Dutch rider dominated Japan’s Mina Sato to take the Netherlands’ second title in the women’s individual sprint, 34 years after that of Ingrid Haringa. The Dutch have won all the sprint events so far in Santiago.

“It’s very pleasing,” Van de Wouw said. “I don’t have many words for it. [Mina Sato] is a very strong rider and she likes to go and have a long sprint. I needed to do something to interrupt that or make it too long for her, and I think I did well.”

In the final for bronze, Alina Lysenko (AIN) got the better of Iana Burlakova (AIN), who had eliminated the two-time defending champion Emma Finucane (GBR) in the quarter-finals.