Brit wins both Endurance events but US rider hangs onto overall lead, as Lavreysen and Richardson have their own duel in men's Sprint
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Archibald at the double(Image credit: SW Pix)
Lavreysen retained his blue jersey as Men's Sprint leader(Image credit: SW Pix)
Richardson wins another Sprint(Image credit: SW Pix)
Gros wins the Women's Sprint(Image credit: SW Pix)
Jennifer Valente remains in the lead of the women's Endurance category(Image credit: SW Pix)
The category leaders after two rounds(Image credit: SW Pix)
Lavreysen gets his revenge in the Keirin(Image credit: SW Pix)
The action in Berlin(Image credit: SW Pix)
The battle between Jennifer Valente (USA) and Katie Archibald (Great Britain) lit up the second round of the UCI Track Champions League in Berlin.
The pair dominated both events on Saturday night to sail clear at the top of the overall women's endurance standings.
The night belonged to Archibald, who edged out her rival to win both the Scratch Race and Elimination Race. However, Valente, second in both events, clung onto the blue jersey as the leader of the women's endurance category after the second of five rounds.
In the Scratch, Archibald took the race by the scruff of the neck, accelerating away after just three of the 20 laps. Valente was forced into action and eventually worked her way across, from which point the pair worked together to convert their advantage into a lap gain, rejoining the bunch with three laps to go.
Valente then sat up in the final dash for the line, allowing Archibald to take victory and the maximum 20 points.
Later in the Elimination Race, there were shock early exits as elimination expert Laura Kenny (Great Britain) was ruled out first, followed by last week’s winner Anita Stenberg (Norway). Eventually Archibald and Valente were the last two standing, and when Archibald issued her final acceleration, Valente once again sat up and settled for second.
In the overall standings, Valente moves to 66 points but sees her lead cut by Archibald, who's up to 60 after winning the Scratch but exiting first in the Elimination in Mallorca on the first round of the Champions League. Lily Williams (USA) is the closest challenger in third on 43 points.
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"Tonight has gone brilliantly and two wins feels amazing," Archibald said. "I feel like I’ve come in with a super power. I always love riding here in Berlin, I adore it. The crowd tonight was fantastic. I’m very happy to be back in the mix in the Endurance league."
Men's Sprint
A similar rivalry is emerging in the men's sprint division, as Matthew Richardson (Australia) and Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) once again locked horns.
As in Mallorca the previous week, the pair contested the Sprint final, with Richardson again coming out on top with an inside move. The pair also did battle in the Keirin, with Lavreysen bouncing back to take a repeat victory of his own.
Lavreysen therefore held onto the overall lead in the men's sprint category, moving to 74 points, with Richardson - who was third in the Mallorca Keirin - two points in arrears. Stefan Botticher (Germany) is a distant third on 58 points.
“I started the evening with the Sprint, missing out to Matthew Richardson in the final, but in the Keirin, I made some great tactical manoeuvres and secured my win," said Lavreysen.
"Tonight has been really cool. I made some mistakes but I hope I get my revenge in the Sprint next week."
Women's Sprint
In the women's sprint division, Martha Bayona (Colombia) moved to the top of the overall standings, ousting Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands). The Dutchwoman was outside the top six in the Keirin and knocked out in the first-round heats in the Sprint, making it a night to forget.
Bayona finished second in the Keirin in a photo finish with the winner Kelsey Mitchell (Canada), but neither made it through to the Sprint final, in which Mathilde Gros (France) got the better of Laurine Van Riessen (Netherlands).
In the overall standings, Bayona has 49 points and a one-point lead over Mitchell, with Gros into third on 46 and Braspennincx down into fourth on 45.
Men's Endurance
In the Men's Endurance category, Oliver Wood (Great Britain) emerged victorious in the Scratch race as Dylan Bibic (Canada) claimed the Elimination, while Mathias Guillemette (Canada) took the overall lead.
Mark Stewart (Great Britain) could only manage 9th and 8th placings and lost his overall lead to Guillemette, who was 6th and 3rd and now leads by five points on a total of 55.
The Track Champions League moves to Paris next Saturday before a double-header in London brings the curtain down on December 2-3.
Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.
