News Round-up: Filippo Ganna and Lotte Kopecky star on busy night of track action

It was a busy day at the World Championships yesterday as Mathieu van der Poel stole the headlines after winning a road-race epic against arch-rival Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar. The enthralling action didn’t end there as a glut of medals were handed out in the velodrome on a busy afternoon of racing. Catch up on all of the gold-medal winners below. In other news, members of Team GB have been sporting new skinsuits at the World Championships, Specialized has launched the new Tarmac SL8, plus a roundup of the latest transfers.

17:18, Monday 7th August 2023

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

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Track action at the UCI World Championships continued on Sunday evening.

| Filippo Ganna and Lotte Kopecky star on fifth day of track action at UCI World Championships

Filippo Ganna delivered Italy’s first gold medal of this year’s UCI World Championships in Glasgow after edging Great Britain's Daniel Bigham in the Individual Pursuit final yesterday evening, although it was much tighter than many may have expected.

Ganna, who has won four of the last six titles, was behind his rival at all three time checks at the 1000, 2000 and 3000-metre marks, finding himself over two seconds behind with only a quarter of the race to go. In a performance befitting a World Champion, the Italian saved his fastest 1000m for last, quickly closing the gap before making the catch at the death to win by less than one-tenth of a second and regain the title he gave away last season. Completing a strong showing for Italy, Jonathan Milan won the third-place showdown against Ivo Manuel Alves Oliveira (Portugal).

Filippo Ganna claimed his sixth Individual Pursuit world title.

Another road star also shone on the track as Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) reclaimed the Elimination Race title she won last season. After safely navigating through to the two-rider showdown, Kopecky outkicked France’s Valentine Fortin in the kick to the line. Quickly becoming the most consistent rider at cycling’s World Championships, Jennifer Valente (USA) settled for third for the third year in a row.

On a night of firsts, Iuri Leitao claimed Portugal’s first-ever gold medal on the track, beating Benjamin Thomas (France) by only two points in the men’s Omnium with Shunsuke Imamura (Japan) holding on for third. Meanwhile, Ellesse Andrews won the Elite Women’s Keirin ahead of Martha Bayona (Colombia) in second and defending champion Lea Friedrich (Germany) in third.

Lotte Kopecky celebrates after defending her Elimination Race crown.

It also proved to be a successful night for the host nation who topped the podium on five occasions. Frances Brown kicked things off for Team GB by winning the Women’s C1 Individual Pursuit before Archie Atkinson added to that in the Men’s C4 Scratch Race, Kadeena Cox secured the Women’s C4 500m Time Trial title, and Finlay Graham triumphed in the Men’s C3 Individual Pursuit. Quickly becoming the stars of the track, Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl completed the team’s gold medal haul by winning their third event of this year’s Championships, the Women’s B Sprint.

The final gold medal of the night went to Australia’s Amanda Reid in the Women’s C2 500m Time Trial.

| World Championships morning roundup

After a thrilling evening of racing yesterday, track action resumed this morning with more qualifying and Omnium races.

One of the track’s most dominant stars, Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands), is on course for his fifth consecutive title in the Elite Men’s Sprint after overcoming Jack Carlin (Great Britain) in their semi-final. The Dutchman will face Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago) in the final after he eased past Mateusz Rudyk (Poland).

There were no major surprises in the last-16 round of the Elite Women’s Sprint as defending champion Mathilde Gros (France) safely navigated her way through to the quarter finals, as did German duo Lea Friedrich and Emma Hinze who finished second and third respectively last season.

Their compatriots Thomas Ulbricht and Robert Förstemann qualified for the Men’s B Sprint where they will battle for gold against British pair Neil Fachie and Matthew Rotherham. In the other races, Blaine Hunt (Great Britain) triumphed in the 200m Time Trial in Men’s C5 Omnium, as did Erin Normoyle (Australia) in the women’s C4 Omnium.

| Team GB riders use new skinsuits at UCI World Championships

British Cycling recently unveiled its new Hope/Lotus track bike ahead of the latest UCI World Championships in Glasgow, along with “64 pieces of kit and equipment”. While they didn’t specify what this additional equipment was, we’ve spotted members of Team GB’s track team sporting new skinsuits.

With 12 months to go until the 2024 Games in Paris, British Cycling appear to be playing around with something new in the skinsuit department, along with their clothing supplier, Kalas.

Rather than one skinsuit for the whole squad, there has been an unusual amount of differing combinations of material, panelling, and aerodynamic profiling.

On Thursday evening, Will Tidball stormed to the world title in the Scratch Race wearing what looked to be a new design, with a higher collar that comes up onto the neck and produces a much thicker strip of blue.

In addition, the raised ridge profiling on the sleeves - which reduces drag by creating turbulent airflow patterns - is different. These have previously been straight lines, and still are for most, but Tidball’s appear in a wave formation.

Will Tidball wore a new skinsuit during his Scratch Race victory.

Will Tidball wore a new skinsuit during his Scratch Race victory. © Velo Collection (Dean Mouhtaropoulos) / Getty Images

Another rider using the waved ridges on the sleeves, as well as the raised collar, is team pursuiter Ethan Vernon, who was wearing a particularly striking suit that had a plain white back, with no GBR logos and no patterning.

While his teammates rode in what looked to be a more established version of Kalas’ Project 1.0 suit, with horizontal ridged sections on the rear, Vernon’s was smooth and almost transparent.

This is clearly not just ‘one new skinsuit’ but rather a move towards greater customisation and variety of the different component parts. We’ll be watching out for more designs over the coming days.

| Specialized launches new Tarmac SL8, the ‘fastest bike in the world’

Remco Evenepoel helped to develop and refine the Tarmac SL8.

After multiple leaks and rumours over the last few weeks, Specialized has officially unveiled the new Tarmac SL8, and the American brand says it’s “the fastest bike in the world”.

It replaces the outgoing Tarmac SL7 that was ridden to multiple road race world titles, including by Remco Evenepoel last season, so it’s fitting that it was debuted by the defending champion along with a host of other riders in the men’s road race at the World Championships in Glasgow at the weekend.

Unfortunately, it (or the riders using it) were unable to replicate last season’s success, although it will probably get another opportunity in the women’s road race where multiple riders, including members of SD Worx, are likely to use it.

Soon, the teams who are sponsored by Specialized will use it for all of their races as, like the SL7, the SL8 is designed with the American brand’s ‘one bike to rule them all’ moto, and will be Specialized’s sole race-dedicated bike.

Far from simply sticking to the same formula, Specialized has taken things to the next level with the SL8, developing the bike in multiple key areas to make it lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic than its predecessor.

There are figures to back this up and Specialized says that it’s 16.6 seconds faster over 40 kilometres than the SL7. When the aforementioned SL7 was first released in 2020 it led to the discontinuation of the popular aero Venge range, despite being less aero. Anyone frustrated by that will be happy to hear that, according to Specialized, the SL8 has overtaken the Venge as the most aerodynamic bike the American brand has ever produced.

| Veronica Ewers becomes EF Education-Cannondale’s first signing

Veronica Ewers will make the move to the new EF Education-Cannondale team in 2024.

Veronica Ewers will make the move to the new EF Education-Cannondale team in 2024. © Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Veronica Ewers will make the move from EF Education-TIBCO-SVB to EF Education-Cannondale for the 2024 season, becoming the newly-formed team’s first official signing.

EF Pro Cycling announced its new EF Education-Cannondale women’s team last week, although there is already an existing EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team, where Ewers had a contract running through to the end of 2025.

That situation has now changed with Ewers moving over to the new team for the 2024 season, a move that comes off the back of some strong performances this season, including fourth overall at the Giro d’Italia Donne.

“I’m really excited to be part of an EF team and to be part of growing something successful together,” Ewers said in a press release. “I really appreciate EF as a company wanting to make sure that men’s and women’s cycling are viewed equally and treated equally. I think that’s a really big step in our sport.”

Ewers’ signing comes days after the team also confirmed that Esra Tromp is joining as general manager. The former pro will be responsible for building the team up, a role she also took on at Jumbo-Visma’s women’s team during her three-year stint as its manager.

| President of Friends of Paris-Roubaix, François Doulcier, dies aged 58

François Doulcier, the President of the Friends of Paris-Roubaix, tragically died on Saturday at the age of 58, the association confirmed on social media.

Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix, or Friends of Paris-Roubaix, help to maintain the cobblestones used throughout France’s famous Monument and Doulcier first joined the association in 2001.

Ten years later he became president, a position Doulcier held up until his death on Saturday.

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Everyone at GCN sends their heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of François Doulcier.

| Transfer roundup - Lidl-Trek quintet extend contracts

With the transfer season in full swing, new deals are constantly being announced, including a flood of contract extensions at Lidl-Trek.

Five riders have extended in total, including newly-crowned American road race champion Quinn Simmons whose new contract goes through to the end of 2026. Daan Hoole, Edward Theuns, Alex Kirsch and Otto Vergaerde have also put pen to paper on slightly shorter deals running through to the end of the 2025 season.

Quinn Simmons has extended his stay with Lidl-Trek.

Elsewhere, Max Kanter’s two-year stint with Movistar is coming to an end after the German signed a deal with Astana Qazaqstan for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The move strengthens Astana’s sprint options, with the team confirming that he will get opportunities for himself while also providing lead-out support in other races. That support is likely to be for Cees Bol who recently extended his contract by an extra two years, although some will harbour hopes that it’s also for Mark Cavendish who is set to retire at the end of the season, but may be tempted into another season.

As always, many riders are also set to make the step up to the pro ranks, including António Morgado, Davide De Pretto and Alexy Faure Prost who have all signed their first pro deals.

Portuguese rider Morgado joins UAE Team Emirates for 2024 from Hagens Berman Axeon after signing a long-term, four-year contract. Having previously interned at the team, De Pretto has penned a two-year neo-pro deal with Jayco-AlUla.

Fresh off the back of winning the under-23 French road race title, Faure Prost has extended his stay with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty’s under-23 setup, Circus-ReUz-Technord, for the 2024 season, before making the step up to the pro team in 2025.