Harrie Lavreysen from Luyksgestel has had to leave the world title to Australia with the Dutch team sprinters on the velodrome after four years of domination. On the opening day of the Track Cycling World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Lavreysen, Roy van den Berg and Jeffrey Hoogland were just short.
Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer were slightly faster in the final: 41,600 against 41.643.
In doing so, they prevented the Orange trio from equaling the record of the French – five world titles in a row between 1997 and 2001. The defeat had already announced itself in the qualifications and the first round. Both times Australia had already been slightly faster, with the Netherlands having the misfortune of having to restart twice in both races due to false starts.
In the team sprint, three riders start for a time trial over three laps. After each round, a rider drops out, after which the latter sets the time.
Olympic champion
The Dutch trio nicknamed the bullet train was almost unbeatable for years. From the 2018 World Cup, the team in which Lavreysen and Hoogland have been the fixed values from the start. The team has held the world record (41.225) since the World Cup in Berlin 2020 and was also crowned Olympic champion in Tokyo last year.