Track Champions League 2022: Mathilde Gros roars into lead, Harrie Lavreysen and Matt Richardson battle continues

Mathilde Gros (France) will lead the Sprint League heading into the double-header, season-ending London round of the Track Champions League.

The home rider surged into the lead after following up a second-place finish in the keirin with victory in the sprint final in front of a raucous Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. She moved from third to first with the former one-two of Martha Bayona (Colombia) and Kelsey Mitchell (Canada) sitting second and third respectively.

On the men’s side, the growing rivalry between Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) and Matt Richardson (Australia) shows no sign of abating with the former winning the sprint final and the latter the keirin to maintain their two-point gap heading to London.

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Bayona led the Sprint League on 49 points following consistent showings over the first two rounds in Mallorca and Berlin and the explosive Mitchell sat in second just one point behind with home rider Gros a further two points back ahead of the third round of racing.

The Colombian rider would have set her sights on keirin success to cement her lead, but there was a shock winner of that event.

Bayona, who suffered a scary-looking crash in practice, took it on very early in heat three of the keirin – with a lap and a bit to go – but was beaten to the line by home rider Taky Marie-Divine Kouame (France) and Steffie van der Peet of the Netherlands.

And Van der Peet – having ousted Bayona in her heat – held off Mitchell, Kouame and Gros to seal a stunning win and the 20 points on offer. That left Gros and Mitchell as provisional leaders tied on 63 points at the top of the Sprint League. Bayona was third on 57.

Bayona showed grit and determination to progress to the final of the sprint event. She faced home rider Gros in the final after she came out on top in her semi-final against Olympic champion Mitchell and Laurine van Riessen (Netherlands).

However, Gros – the world champion – had too much for Bayona and powered her way to victory and, in doing so, the leader’s jersey in front of an ecstatic home crowd.

“It was amazing tonight,” said Gros.

“I was happy to win tonight in front of my family, the public was just incredible, they pushed me a lot and I gave everything – I am so happy to have won tonight. My parents, auntie, friends were all here tonight. My family took the car this morning and travelled seven hours and they go back tomorrow morning, I am so thankful for this.”

On the men’s side, defending champion Lavreysen and Richardson had already opened up a substantial gap at the top of the leaderboard on 74 and 72 points respectively coming into the round. Stefan Bötticher of Germany sat in third, some 14 points in arrears of Richardson.

Lavreysen set the tone early, hitting 2039 watts as he ousted home rider Rayan Helal and Hamish Turnbull (Great Britain) in heat 6 of the men’s sprint. Lavreysen then made light work of his semi-final to set up a sprint final against Richardson for the third week running. Richardson had won both but Lavreysen turned the tables to pick up a first sprint final win at this year’s event.

The final of the keirin saw Lavreysen and Richardson duel it out once more, but this time they were joined by Botticher (Germany), Shinji Nakano (Japan), Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) and Jai Angsuthasawit (Thailand).

However, it once again came down to the two men who have dominated the men’s 2022 Track Champions League Sprint League. Lavreysen led at the bell from Richardson but the Australian was on his wheel and then soon his shoulder before edging him at the line.

“I will approach the last rounds in London the same as I have done all of the other races,” said Richardson.

“Make smart decisions and the result is going to be the result, 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 onto London.”

The win meant that it was as you were at the top of the men’s Sprint League, with Lavreysen holding a two-point lead over Richardson at the top of the standings.

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