Day six Round-up

Switzerland make it time trial two in a row

Switzerland made history in the mixed relay time trial by successfully defending their title despite Marlen Reusser crashing 13km from the end. No team in history has ever managed this feat, but it was a close call after France, who finished in second, put down a marker meaning Switzerland had to dig deep.

The defending champions were put into a strong position by Mauro Schmid plus time-trial specialists Stefan Kung and Stefan Bissegger who claimed a healthy 20 second lead at the first split. Their strong start suffered a scare when Reusser came off her bike and it looked like they might be down and out. But, with no mechanical issues and a bucket load of determination, the Swiss rider got back on her bike and continued unscathed.

The race for victory went right down to the last stretch and it looked for a while like the French team had done enough to snatch victory from the defending champions. However, the Swiss team know just what it take to win and brought that experience with them to make it back-to-back World titles. They came home in a time of 54:16.20 to become the first team in history to make it two in a row in this event. France were just over seven seconds behind while Germany took bronze.

Great Britain finished just outside medal positions with a fourth place finish – more than a minute slower than the champions.

Mixed C Team Sprint

The evening action kicked off at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome with China pipping defending champions Great Britain to gold in the Mixed C Team Sprint. Kadeena Cox led out the British team and gave them a narrow lead on the first lap, but the Chinese riders fought back and a their second rider Li Zhangyu accelerated through the gears to give them the advantage. It proved too much for Britain’s Jody Cundy to make up and Wu Gyoqing saw the Chinese team over the line to take gold.

Men Elite 1Km Time Trial

Jeffrey Hoogland continued his domination in the 1km winning his third title in a row. This is the flying Dutchman’s ninth gold overall and second of this Championships having already helped the Netherland to gold in the team sprint. Even after slowing down in the final lap, he still clocked 58.222 to take victory 0.304 seconds ahead of Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer who claimed an Australian record. Bronze went to Glaetzer’s compatriot Joseph Truman while Great Britain’s Joseph Truman came agonisingly close but finished in fourth. 

Women Elite Points Race

We were delivered a women’s points race masterclass from Belgium’s Lottee Kopecky who took gold ahead of Australia’s Georgia Baker. The now four-time World Champion came into the final sprint eight points clear of Baker in second and had the gold medal all-but in the bag. She just had to keep it clean and that she did. The real battle then came for bronze as Britain’s Neah Evans battle to stay in contention and try and bag a second medal in 24 hours. In the end it was Japan’s Tsuyaka Uchino who took bronze with Evans coming home in fourth having been edged by USA’s Lily Williams.

Mixed B Team Sprint

As the action drew to a close for the night at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome, there was still time to add to the medal tally in the final para event of the championships. Great Britain added another gold to their already impressive haul as they beat Italy to the top spot in the Mixed B Team Sprint. There was a bronze for Malaysia who took the race to the USA and claimed the third spot on the podium.

Men’s Elite Madison

To close out the night, we were treated to a thriller as the Men’s Elite Madison riders took to the track. Belgium came flying out of the traps and stormed into the lead on the points. But, this race is 200 laps and there was a lot of chance for chop and change.

The most chaotic looking race is always an opportunity for changes in positioning and Denmark and the Netherlands began to rein in the Belgian duo. With 40 laps to go, the Netherlands took the lead just a point ahead of Belgium and Denmark but New Zealand were still in touching distance. Teams began to drop out of the race and with 35 to go, the USA called it a day.

But, for those still in the points, it was all to race for as the peloton came back together. Tactics began to come into play and riders were swinging up and down the track with three sprints to go. Great Britain found themselves in third as we came into the final five laps but the Netherland were playing a blinder and leading by three still.

As the bell rang, it was New Zealand who zoomed over the line first and Great Britain in second but it just wasn’t enough for the home team to take the gold. Belgium, having led for so long, didn’t manage to grab a medal as Netherlands finished first 37 points, Great Britain with 35 points and New Zealand took third with 34 points. After all those laps, it all came down to the very last lap. What a race and what a way to close out the night. It was a first gold in the men’s Madison for the Netherlands while only five points separated the top three. Wow. What a race!

Around and about

Elsewhere around Glasgow, the Men’s BMX Freestyle Flatland qualification got underway. 16 riders made it through to tomorrow’s semi-final before they battle for the medal’s on Thursday. We were treated to bike work and balances the likes of which we could only dream of and it’s now building up to an incredible few days of tricks. The top of the table belonged to Japan who took the top two spots followed by two French riders in third and fourth. But this is just qualification and anything can happen as the competition goes on.