Roubaix – Emma Hinge is unbeatable at the Track Cycling World Championships.
The 24-year-old defending champion took gold in the sprint at Roubaix on Friday evening, his fifth overall title – the only five disciplines he has competed in so far – Berlin 2020 and Roubaix 2021. Team colleague and friend Lee Sophie Frederick made it to the finals in an impressive sprint show, but was defeated in the eagerly anticipated German duel after two thrilling rounds.
«That was historic»
“It’s madness. That was historic, an amazing result. The girls are focused again. Now you can see what potential they have,” said national coach Detlef Uibel, who is leaving after the season. Looking at both, he said: “The journey can go too far.”
Prior to this, Hinze had twice clearly defeated Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell of Canada thus demonstrating his current top form. “It’s just fun,” said Hinze, who made a more relaxed impression than in Tokyo in the days of Roubaix, when media pressure and expectations were too high for him. On Sunday, Hinz also looks to defend his third title in Keirin and complete the next spectacular World Cup triple. As the defending champion in Saturday’s 500-meter time trial, Frederick is one of the favourites.
Aylers takes bronze in time trial
Before the competition between the two sprint women, the German Cyclist Association (BDR) was able to celebrate another medal. Joachim Allers won the bronze medal in the 1000 m time trial in a time of 1:00.008 minutes and lost only to Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) and Nicolas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago). “We’ve done a lot of work. My shape got better every time, we want to build on that. It motivates me to be rewarded with a medal again,” Eilers said.
After three out of five days of the World Cup, the German balance sheet is strong. Apart from three World Cup titles, BDR also has one silver and two bronze medals. Even beating the yield from the home World Cup (four gold, one silver, three bronze) seems possible, as the chances of medals are high over the weekend.
Former world champion Theo Reinhardt, who could not progress beyond ninth place in the race for points, was left without the precious metal. In men’s singles, American Ashton Lambi won against strong Italian competition for Jonathan Milne (silver) and professional road bike professional Filippo Gaana (bronze).
