The final day of the 2021 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships saw four Americans take to the boards at the Stab Vélodrome; Madalyn Godby (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk), Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling), and Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). The squad would compete among three events: Women’s Keirin, Women’s Points Race, and the Men’s Elimination Race.
The day kicked off for Team USA with Godby and Marquardt taking the start of the Women’s Keirin event. Unfortunately, both riders were forced into the repechage round out of their first-round rides. However, Godby proved victorious in her ride and moved on to the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Godby rode smart, marking the wheel of Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER), the winner of the Women’s Sprint event, to earn her way into the major final. Godby started in the final position in the major final and was forced to come the long way around if she wanted to take control of the race. In the end, Friedrich proved why she already had two rainbow jerseys this week. Godby finished fourth, just outside the podium. Her finish is the best American placing in the event, regardless of gender, since Jennie Reed won the Women’s Keirin in 2008.
1. Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER)
2. Mina Sato (JPN)
3. Yana Tyschenko (RCF)
4. Madalyn Godby (USA)
17. Mandy Marquardt (USA)
Valente took to the boards in the Women’s Points Race in her last race of the season. The 40-kilometer race saw riders contest ten sprints. The beginning of the race was calm and collected, with Valente scoring 5 points early. But the French rider Marion Borras broke the calm when she attacked after the second sprint. She would gain 20 points after taking her lap, and from there, it was a lap-gaining party. Valente was part of a group that took a lap in response to Borras. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) took a total of three laps and the win for the event. Valente finished seventh.
1. Lotte Kopecky (BEL) 76 pts
2. Katie Archibald (GBR) 72 pts
3. Kirsten Wild (NED) 60 pts
7. Jennifer Valente (USA) 33 pts
In the final race of the World Championships, Hoover got on track to race in the inaugural Men’s Elimination Race. Racing reminiscent to how he raced in the omnium, Hoover raced smart, staying out of the back of the field. It was evident through the race that the one position to not get stuck in was the inside position at the back, as there was nowhere to move. In the fifteenth elimination, Hoover was stuck in that unenviable position next to eventual winner Elia Viviani (ITA), and Viviani just edged out Hoover in the end. Hoover finished in eighth place.
1. Elia Viviani (ITA)
2. Iuri Leitao (POR)
3. Sergei Rostovtsev (RCF)
8. Gavin Hoover (USA)
