Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling) and Adrian Hegyvary (Seattle) took to the boards today to race in the Men’s Madison. This year, the event is back after being left out of the program for the last two Olympic Games, even though it debuted in 2000. Sixteen countries started in today’s 200 lap race. With a sprint every ten laps, it was due to be an exciting return of the Madison.
Hoover and Hegyvary had a solid start to the day, sticking with the group and scoring a point on sprint three.
Later in the race, Hoover moved to the front of the group keeping his eye on Team Great Britain and France. At the bell for sprint nine, Hoover threw Hegyvary, and the Team USA won the sprint, scoring five more points.
Team USA was making its way through the ranks toward one of their best-ever finishes in the Madison. They stayed toward the front as much as they could and avoided the crashes that were coming one-by-one.
USA Cycling coach Rob Stanley talked about the tactics the duo was using during the race. The team has focused on changing its style since the World Championships in Berlin. Stanley said, “They rode like we've spoken about. We've spoken about putting yourself in the back of the bike race because you ride the same speed at the back of the bike race as the front. We spoke about positioning, positioning, positioning. Twice they did it, and twice they scored points. Absolutely perfect. So they should be so proud of being able to do that. That's not a way they've ever ridden the bike race before. They've developed the way they think and the way they ride in the bike race.”
Talking about Hoover and Hegyvary’s positioning, Stanley explained, “When they had the opportunity, when they were thinking about the position, they knew at three, four laps to go where they had to be in the bike race to score points in the sprints. And they did that and scored in two.”
At 94 laps to go, the two were caught up in a crash during the handoff, sliding them both down track in turn four. With USA Cycling staff immediately on the way, new bikes were ready and medical staff assessed the riders. Hegyvary looked as if he was prepared to hop back into the race, but Hoover took some time to get up. Team USA made the tough decision to abandon the race after Hoover was deemed unable to ride. After a medical evaluation, Hoover was diagnosed with a distal radius fracture. He was treated at the venue hospital and was released soon after the competition ended.
It came down to Denmark taking the gold with 43 points and a tie with Team GB and France at 40 points. Team GB won the tiebreaker, placing better in the final lap, taking the silver.
We finally made it to the last day of racing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Two-time Olympic medalist Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Twenty24) will close down the Izu Velodrome in the Women’s Omnium, which includes the Scratch, Tempo, Elimination, and Points races.
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