On the second day of the Belgian track meeting held in Ghent, we can watch, among other things, the struggles of the omnium and Madison.
During most of the day, men and women competed in Omnium. Two Polish women qualified for the women’s competition – Daria Pikulik and ucja Pietrzak (Polish national team). Unfortunately, that was not possible for Nicole Bossage, who finished 13th in the points race (12 contestants went to Omnium). From the very beginning, the British presented themselves in a good way – Laura Kenny won by scratching, and Katie Archibald triumphed in the beat of the race. In the qualifying race, Kirsten Wilde (Netherlands) was the best, and Laura Kenny and Daria Piccolik completed the top three, which moved her to 10th in the overall standings. Polish women rode actively in the points race, securing them 10th (Daria Pikulik) and 12th (Łucja Pietrzak) places respectively. Kirsten Wilde beat Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald.
Only Daniel Staniszewski (Mazuzzi’s Polish heartthrob) managed to qualify for the Men’s Umenum Championship. The biggest surprise was that the silver medalist at the World Championships in Berlin – Jan Willem van Scheib (cycling house) or Christos Folikakis (Greece) – did not qualify. Their fate was sadly shared by Philip Prokopieszyn (the Polish national team) and Alain Panaszek (the heart of Mazovian in Poland).
World champion Benjamin Thomas dominated the competition from the start. The French won zero, pace and shootout races. There have been several accidents in racing, involving Ilya Viviani (Italy), Roy Efting (Netherlands) and William Perrett (Spielman Dublin Port Track T.). Before the final points race, Benjamin Thomas was 36 points ahead of second runners Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) and Kenny De Keightley (Sport Valander-Baloise). He maintained his overall lead in the points race without any problems. Ethan Hayter (Great Britain) jumped into second place and Ethan Vernon completed the podium.
Since Madison’s inception, Dutch women – Kirsten Wilde and Amy Peters – have rode very actively. The world champions won straight shots and made up for the lap. Over time, they were approached by the British (Laura Kenny / Katie Archibald) and the Belgian (Jolien D’Hoore / Lotte Kopecky), who also had one lap above the rest of the stake. In the end, it was known that victory would be decided between the British and Dutch. In the last race, the British ranked second, while the Dutch ranked sixth, thanks to which Archibald and Kenny took the lead with 48 points. Kirsten Wilde and Amy Peters (45) came second, followed by Julian Dehor and Lott Kubicki (33). Polish women, Victoria and Daria Pikkulik, finished seventh.
In the first half of the 30-kilometer Madison, no pair could turn away from the peloton. Among others, BEAT cyclists (Jan-Willem van Schip / Joeri Havik), the British (Oliver Wood / Rhys Britton), the Italians (Francesco Lamon / Michele Scartezzini) and the Belgians (Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise) – Fabio van den Bossche and Lindsay de Felder . More than 50 laps before the finish line, the excitement was started by the Mazowsze Heart Polski cycling team drivers, Daniel Staniszewski and Alan Panaszik, as a result of which they scored 2 points. After a while, everything met again. BEAT cyclists attack for a dozen or so laps to the end. They failed to make up for the lap, but won the final race, which was their victory. They were followed by Oliver Wood and Reese Britton, followed by Roy Peters and Michael Zieglard (Netherlands), who were both active in the end, in third place. Daniel Stanishevsky and Alan Panaszek finished Madison in the Position XXX.
Today, the semifinals and finals of the men’s race are also held. The first semi-final duo consisted of UCI World Cycling Center riders – Jair Tjon in Va (Suriname) and Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago). The runner from Trinidad and Tobago won in a 2: 1 ratio, thanks to his promotion to the Final. The British – Jason Kenny and Jack Carlin – competed in the second pair. The first of them turns out to be the winner, because Jack Carlin retired after colliding on his first heat. For this reason, the bronze went to Jair Tjon En Fa. In the final, Jason Kenny was shown to be the best in three races.
Katie Marchant (Great Britain) won the Keren women’s competition, in which we did not see our players. In the final race, she defeated Nikki Degrendelle of Belgium and Italian Elena Pisolati.
