The track cycling world championships began in France on Wednesday evening and the Australian team recorded the fastest time in the team sprint on the opening day…

 

– By Rob Arnold

 

Tom Cornish, Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Richardson were the 10th of the 17 teams to ride the qualifying round of the team sprint on the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome near Paris on day one of the 2022 world championships. And the Australians posted a blistering time of 41.896, just shy of the world record (41.255) to go through to the first round as the fastest.

SBS is live-streaming the 2022 track worlds in Australia via the On Demand online service.

The Dutch are the reigning Olympic champions in this three-lap event and they were the last to start the qualifying round. Jeffrey Hoogland, Harrie Lavreysen and Roy van der Berg posted the second fastest time (41.993) but were hindered by an issue with the starting gate, meaning they had to recollect and start their qualifying ride again.

The British trio was third fastest in qualifying, finishing almost a second slower than the Australians.In the first round, it was Holland against China before the Australians made a switch to the line-up, swapping Cornish for Matthew Glaetzer for their ride against the eighth fastest in qualifying, Canada.

The Dutch improved on their qualifying time with a 41.747 in round one but moments later the Australians stormed around the track with the fastest time of the night, 41.630.

The gold medal ride for the men’s team sprint was the final event of the opening day.

 

 

 

For results from the world championships, visit Tissot Timing.

The Dutch Olympic champions – and defending world champions – race against Australia in the team sprint.

The bronze medal ride in the men’s team sprint saw Team GB up against Germany, while the Dutch raced against the Aussies for gold.

The Brits claimed the bronze with 42.844, only a fraction of a second ahead of Germany (42.950).

The Aussies continued to dominate the event, overcoming a tough challenge by the Dutch in the final, with Hoffman, Richardson and Glaetzer winning gold in the team sprint for the first time since 2012.

It was close all the way in the final race of the evening but a 16.949 opening lap set things up perfectly for the Aussies who beat the Dutch with a 41.600 three-lap effort. The silver medallists – who have won the world title every year from 2018 to 2021 – posted 41.643.

Bravo to the Aussie trio (plus Tom Cornish for his efforts in qualifying). Beating the Dutch in their pet event is always a tough ask but the Australians have ended the opening night of competition on a high with a stunning series of rides in the team sprint.

 

In the women’s team sprint the Australian influence was also felt… albeit thanks to the coaching efforts of Kaarle McCulloch who is now working for Team GB which scored bronze on the opening night.

In the gold medal ride for the women’s team sprint, it was China up against the German trio. With a world record time of 45.967, the Germans scored the gold medal.

Team pursuit qualifying

In the team pursuit, Australia qualified with the sixth best time (3:50.344) and then disposed of Germany in round one with an impressive 3:48.773.

The Brits were fastest in qualifying with a 3:48.092, with Olympic champions Italy marginally slower (3:48.243) while the home team for the championships were third best (3:48.845). New Zealand was fourth fastest (3:49.498) finishing just ahead of the Danish quartet (3:49.639).

Then, in the first round of the team pursuit Denmark improved by almost three seconds, setting 3:46.754 in their clash against Belgium and although the Danes set the fastest time of the evening, they will only get to race for the bronze medal, against the Australian team*.

Filippo Ganna again put in a stunning ride, only days after setting the hour record, with phenomenally fast, long turns at the front of the Italian team in round one. With a three and a half lap surge in the final kilo, Ganna steered his quartet into the final against Team GB with a 3:47.203, marginally slower than the Brits (3:47.057).

 

The first gold medal of the championships was won by the defending champion in the scratch race, Martina Fidanza of Italy who beat Maike van der Duin of Holland who was also the silver medallist in that event at last year’s worlds in Roubaix.

 

– By Rob Arnold

 

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*Progression rule

The winners of heats 3 and 4 in the First round ride the final for the gold and silver medals.
The remaining six teams will be ranked by their times in the First round and will be paired as follows: the two fastest teams ride the final for the bronze medal.