The fifth and final day of the 2021 UCI Junior Track World Championships finished as it started – with Russia heading the rest of the field. But only after Italy had won the day’s opener…
Men’s elimination: Belletta celebrates gold
The final day of events started with the men’s elimination (qualifying and final) over 5km on the velodrome in Cairo (Egypt). In the first race, South Africa’s Josh Dike qualified first ahead of Italy’s Dario Igor Belletta and Mexico’s Guillermo Esquivel Ortiz.
In the second heat, the Czech Republic’s Matyas Koblizek, chasing two golds in one day with the Madison coming later, started his quest in ominous form, qualifying first for the elimination final. Russia’s Dmitrii Dolzhikov finished second with Gregory Pouvreault (FRA) in third.
Come the final, it was young Belletta who showed endurance, tactical acumen and maturity beyond his years to take gold. Dolzhikov finished with silver while Koblizek added bronze to his European title.
Women’s Madison: Abaidullina and Ivanchenko rack up more wins
Russia’s absolute dominance of the 2021 UCI Junior World Track Championships continued in the women’s 20km Madison thanks to the powerful pairing of Inna Abaidullina and Alena Ivanchenko, who lapped the opposition twice to collect 40 points. Another 20 gained from sprints meant a 60-point total, which was enough for gold. This was Abaidullina’s third gold medal of the Championships after gold in the team pursuit and Omnium. Ditto for Ivanchenko, who’d won gold in the team pursuit and the points race.
France’s Jade Labastugue and Benedicte Ollier won silver, Ollier’s third in Cairo after second in both the individual and team pursuits (where Labastugue also won silver). The Netherlands’ Yuli van der Molen and Nienke Veenhoven won bronze.
Men’s 1km time trial: Skorniakov wins by a whisker
Willy Leonhard Weinrich looked the marked man in the men’s 1km time trial after taking silver in the individual and team sprints. The German also won the 1km time trial at the recent European Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Expectation stimulates nerves but you wouldn’t think it by the way Weinrich went about his business, qualifying first for the final in 1:02.157.
Russia’s Grigorii Skorniakov, who won team pursuit bronze earlier in the competition, qualified second fastest in 1:02.878, while the Czech Republic’s Matej Hytych qualified third fastest in 1:04.000.
The final turned out to be a thrilling affair with both Weinrich and Skorniakov registering exactly the same time of 1:03.339. But, as has happened so often at these championships, the title went to Russia and Skorniakov. Kazakhstan’s Kirill Kurdidi took a fine bronze medal in 1:03.804.
Women’s keirin: Lysenko’s quartet of successes
In the women’s keirin, Russia’s Alina Lysenko was the rider to beat after winning golds in the individual and team sprints plus the 500m time trial. True to form, Lysenko qualified for the semi-finals with ease. Other notable qualifiers included Elizaveta Bogomolova, who won team sprint gold alongside Lysenko, and Germany’s Clara Schneider, who won the first heat at an average speed of 58.968km/hr. The Czech Republic’s Anna Jabornikova qualified fastest from the repechages.
In the semi-finals, the seemingly tireless Lysenko progressed to the final by virtue of winning her heat in a 200m time of 12.302. Fast but not the fastest time of the semis. That honour went to Schneider in heat one (12.135).
But Lysenko was saving her best till last as she stormed around the Cairo velodrome in 11.957 for her fourth gold medal of the championships. Schneider won silver with Ukraine's Alla Biletska in third.
Men’s Madison: Czech mate in final event
Going into the final event of an enthralling UCI Junior Track World Championships, Russia had won an incredible 13 UCI World titles. To put that into context, heading into the men’s 30km Madison, Germany were second in the medals table with two gold medals – 11 golds behind.
But it was to be unlucky 13 for Russia as they stayed on that still-incredible total as the Czech pairing of Matyas Koblizek and Radovan Stec unleashed a memorable performance to win gold, Koblizek adding to the bronze he won earlier in the day and Stec adding to his Omnium gold. The Polish pairing of Piotr Maslak and Kamil Dolak won silver while South Africa’s James Swart and Josh Dike claimed bronze.
Three more golds for Russia, whose athletes dominated the 2021 UCI Junior Track World Championships, the fourth to be held on the African continent.
Illustration: © Mamdouh Magdy
