On the second day of the 2021 Tissot UCI Track World Championships, Team USA started the morning off with the Women’s Sprint tournament. In the evening competed in the Women’s Scratch Race and Men’s Elimination Race.
Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) went into the Elimination Race as a rider to watch during the event. The key to this event is not to be caught in the back and not spend too much time in the front expending energy. Every other lap, the last rider to cross the line is eliminated. Valente rode smart and towards the front the majority of the race. There was nowhere to hide with five riders left in the field; Valente led the group each lap. When it came down to the final three, she knew she had a medal, but the race was not over. She stayed on the front until the last turn before the finish line, where she just missed the moves from Letizia Paternoster (ITA) and Lotte Kopecky (BEL). Valente was eliminated, settling for bronze. This would be her second medal of the event and 14th career World Championship medal.
1. Letizia Paternoster (ITA)
2. Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
3. Jennifer Valente (USA)
Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) hit the boards as one of the favorites in the Men’s Scratch Race. Bartosz Rudyk (POL) made his first of three attacks about five minutes into the race, and Hoover attacked to close the gap bringing the group back together. Then it was Hoover with the attack bringing Rhys Britton (GBR) with him. The two worked together for several laps pushing the pace of the race. Then four other riders rode away from the group catching Hoover and Britton now with six riders off the front. It was not long until the group was back together again, but Hoover was not done yet. At ten laps to go, Hoover made his final attack pushing the pace for the last two kilometers. He emptied the tank, controlling the front of the race. Hoover was caught with two laps to go, and the sprint was on from the rest of the field. Donavan Grondin of France would win the host country’s first medal of the championship.
1. Donavan Grondin (FRA)
2. Tuur Dens (BEL)
3. Rhys Britton (GBR)
19. Gavin Hoover (USA)
The sprinters took to the track today for qualifying. Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk) and Madalyn Godby (Colorado Springs, Colo.) qualified 15th and 18th, respectively. They both moved on to the next round, where they were matched up against each other. In an extremely tight heat race between the two Americans, Godby would overtake Marquardt by 0.013 seconds. With Godby moving on to eighths, she was paired against German rider and reigning World Champion Emma Hinze. The Germans proved to be dominant in the sprint tournament, with three of their riders moving on to the quarter-finals, including Hinze. The sprint tournament will conclude on Friday. Unfortunately, this marks the end of the day for the American sprinters, but Godby and Marquardt will both be back for redemption in the Keirin on Sunday.
Tomorrow Valente and Hoover are back for more! Valente will start the Omnium in the morning with an initial heat race, then on to the Scratch, Tempo, Elimination, and Points Races, where the overall Omnium champion will be crowned. Hoover will race in the individual Points Race, and World Record Holder Ashton Lambie (Lincoln, Neb.; HUUB Wattbike) will compete in the Individual Pursuit.
