Lotte Kopecky (BEL) showed her extraordinary class to win a second rainbow jersey on Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, as part of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Jeffrey Hoogland, Jan Willem van Schip and Yoeri Havik also won more gold for the Netherlands.
Women’s points race: Kopecky an absolute superstar
From the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to the elimination on the track, Lotte Kopecky (BEL) perfectly transitioned, claiming the rainbow after the green jersey. The Belgian icon is on a roll and today went on to win another UCI World Champion title (her sixth) in the points race.
Neah Evans (GBR) delighted the crowd as she dominated the first sprint of the night ahead of Kopecky. Halfway through the race, the Belgian led with 11 points, and she went on to take a lap on the rest of her opponents (+20 points) alongside Australia’s Georgia Baker. Evans and Lily Williams (USA) followed their example, but Kopecky kept on pushing and increased her tally to 39 points ahead of the final sprint.
Japan’s Tsuyaka Uchino took the final 10 points to storm to the bronze medal ahead of Williams and Evans – 14 points for the Japanese, nine for her chasers. Baker held on to the silver, with a total of 31 points. But, once again, there was no way to contain Kopecky’s glorious ride to victory.
Men’s 1km time trial: Oranje means power, especially with Hoogland
Who can stop the Durch when it comes to the male sprint events? In Glasgow, the Netherlands quickly ruled the team sprint, reclaiming the crown they had lost to Australia last year, and Harrie Lavreysen took his fifth UCI World Champion title in the individual sprint. Then on Tuesday, Jeffrey Hoogland asserted his dominance in the 1km time trial, taking the rainbow jersey in the specialty for the third year in a row, the fourth in total with a previous victory in Apeldoorn (the Netherlands) in 2018.
Hoogland impressed from the qualification with a time of 57.971… Only the Australians Matthew Glaetzer (+0.601) and Thomas Cornish (+0.827) managed to lose less than one second.
In the final, too, Glaetzer (58.526) and Cornish (58.822) were the best of the rest of the world. But Hoogland seems to ride from another planet when it comes to the 1km time trial. The Dutch star was a bit slower than in the morning (58.222) but it was still more than enough to secure his ninth Elite UCI World Champion title.
Men’s Madison: Van Schip and Havik survive a thriller
A fascinating event by nature, the Madison delivered even more thrills than usual when everything came down to the final sprint for the last title up for grabs on Tuesday night. New Zealand and Great Britain gave it their all but Jan Willem van Schip and Yoeri Havik were too strong: they made history for the Netherlands as the first Dutch riders to win the Madison at the UCI Worlds.
Belgium’s Lindsay de Vylder and Robbe Ghys had the best start, amassing 18 points in the first half of the race, but the Brits and the Danes gradually improved to breathe down Belgian necks with 15 points. Germany (14 pts), New Zealand (14) and the Netherlands (13) also remained in close contention.
With 40 laps to go, the Dutchmen moved past everyone, taking the lead with 28 points, just ahead of Belgium and Denmark (27 each). But five teams were still within 10 points ahead of the final sprint.
Kiwis Aaron Gate and Campbell Stewart were the first on the line, enabling them to take the bronze medal for New Zealand (34 points). Mark Stewart and Oliver Wood rose to silver for Team GB. But it was Van Schip and Haevik claimed the rainbow jersey.
Men’s keirin: Hoogland and Glaetzer impress, Lavreysen and Richardson survive
Moments after they powered to the podium of the 1km time trial, Hoogland and Glaetzer met again in round one of the keirin. And they took the two first places in heat five to qualify to the quarter-finals. Last year’s bronze medallist, Kevin Quintero (COL), also dominated his heat, but the reigning UCI World Champion Harrie Lavreysen (NED) had to go through the repechage, as did his Australian rival Matthew Richardson. Both of them eventually survived the day and will participate in the high wattage quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Women’s sprint: Ellesse keeps impressing
Following their strong performance in Monday’s qualifying, Great Britain’s Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell also dominated their 1/8 final. Finucane went on to win her quarter-final against Canada’s Lauriane Genest. But Andrews Ellesse (NZL), after her surprise gold medal in the keirin, got the best of Capewell in three rounds. Two German stars complete the cast for Wednesday’s semi-finals: last year’s silver medallist Lea Sophie Friedrich edged the defending UCI World Champion Mathilde Gros (FRA) to face Andrews, and Emma Hinze (already a winner of the 500m time trial and the team sprint in Glasgow) will battle against Finucane.