Mathilde Gros (France) surged to the head of the women’s sprint standings in the UCI Track Champions League thanks to a powerful display in the third round of the competition in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Saturday night.
The velodrome will serve as the site for the track events at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and Gros, who already won the world sprint title at the venue last month, will hope that her success here is a sign of things to come.
“The pressure was a good pressure, you can feel the public push you and tonight was the same. I think in two years, it will be incredible for us [to compete here at the Olympics] - no pressure, just pleasure,” Gros said.
The Frenchwoman beat Martha Bayona (Colombia) in the final of the sprint event before placing second to Steffie van der Peet (Netherlands) in the keirin. Those results elevate Gros to the top of the overall sprint standings in the UCI Track Champions.
With next weekend’s doubleheader in London to come, Gros is on 83 points, seven ahead of Bayona. Kelsey Mitchell (Canada), who placed third in the keirin on Saturday, is now third overall on 73 points.
Jennifer Valente (USA) remains atop the women’s endurance standings by the narrowest of margins ahead of Kate Archibald (Great Britain), with the pair set for a tumultuous duel in London next week.
Archibald beat Valente to win the elimination race on Saturday evening and the Briton also gained points on her rival by beating her to second place in the scratch race, an event won by Sophie Lewis (Great Britain). Valente is now just one point clear of Archibald atop the standings.
“I’m not elated that I don’t have the jersey and I’m pretty motivated heading into London next week,” Archibald said. “I’ve taken this whole series very seriously and to go into the finale still in contention, after not thinking that would be the case after Round 1, is nice. I’m going to try and do everything perfectly to give myself the best chance of winning the series.
“I never feel too stressed with Elimination races because you just get to ride hard. I tried to go with a bigger gear for this round because there are so many nice points on this track, but I was 100% over-geared. I had to stomp on my pedals, so I’ve learnt something for next week.”
Imhof moves into men's endurance lead
Claudio Imhof (Switzerland) has moved into the lead in the men’s endurance standings thanks to podium finishes in both the elimination race and scratch race on Saturday evening. The Swiss rider placed third behind Oliver Wood (Great Britain) and Mathias Guillemette (Canada) in the elimination race before taking second behind Sebastián Mora (Spain) in the scratch.
In the overall standings, Imhof holds a lead of six points over Guillemette and nine over Mora ahead of next week’s London finale. “I’m definitely tired after three weeks of tough racing, but there’s only one week to go now so I will continue to give it my all,” Mora vowed afterwards.
In the men’s sprint competition, meanwhile, Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) defended his overall lead after he and Matthew Richardson (Australia) divided the spoils between them in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Lavreysen beat Richardson in the sprint final, and those results were reversed in the keirin later in the session, with the Australian coming out on top ahead of Lavreysen, while Shinji Nakano (Japan) took third.
“On the final lap I gave it my all, took the fight to him, and I’m happy I was able to take over him,” Lavreysen said of his sprint win, but Richardson had his measure in the keirin shortly afterwards. “Harrie did a really good ride, he stayed out of the sprint lane and forced me wide, but I was just coming with too much speed and managed to get around,” Richardson said.
The split decision in Paris means that Lavreysen remains two points ahead of Richardson in the overall standings ahead of next week’s final two rounds.
“I will approach the last rounds in London the same as I have done with all of the other races - make smart decisions and the result is going to be the result,” Richardson said. “I just need to stick to my processes, and whatever happens, happens. I have just got to be happy with my performances so far. If it all goes wrong in the last two rounds, then so be it. I've had an absolute blast so far so I hope I can carry those vibes on to London.”
The UCI Track Champions League concludes with back-to-back rounds at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London on Friday and Saturday.
