News Round-up: First gold medals awarded at Glasgow World Championships

| First medals awarded at Glasgow World Championships

Following plenty of excitement and anticipation, the first medals of Glasgow’s ‘super’ World Championships were up for grabs yesterday on the track, with host nation Team GB securing a five-medal haul, including two golds.

The most dramatic of those came in the Elite Men’s Scratch Race where William Tidball (Great Britain) provided a fitting crescendo in the final race of the day, sweeping around his rivals on the final bend to comfortably secure the victory ahead of Kazushige Kuboki (Japan) in 2nd and Tuur Dens (Belgium) in 3rd. That came after Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl overcame a one-second deficit on the final lap to beat Australian duo Jessica Gallagher and Caitlin Ward in the Women’s B 1km Time Trial earlier in the day, with fellow Team GB pair Elizabeth Jordan and Amy Cole rounding out the podium.

© Velo Collection (Dean Mouhtaropoulos) / Getty Images

William Tidball celebrates in front of the home crowd.

Elsewhere, Pauline Grabosch, Emma Hinze and Lea Friedrich proved to once again be a winning combination for Germany as they secured their fourth consecutive title in the Women’s Elite Team Sprint. They were made to work for it, setting a new world record to narrowly pip Great Britain’s trio by one-tenth of a second, with China in third.

There was a more dominant winning margin in the Women’s Elite Individual Pursuit where Chloé Dygert (USA) caught defending champion Franziska Brauße (Germany) in the heads-up final, although she missed out on a world record. Bryony Botha (New Zealand) took 3rd.

© Velo Collection (Dean Mouhtaropoulos) / Getty Images

Chloé Dygert has now won four of the last seven world titles in the Women’s Elite Individual Pursuit.

It was also a successful evening for the Netherlands who secured three gold medals courtesy of Caroline Groot in the Women’s C5 500m Time Trial, and Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos in the Men’s B Individual Pursuit Final, before Daniel Abraham Gebru won a thrilling Men’s C5 Scratch Race after lapping the field late on and beating Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev in a sprint.

Rounding out the list of new World Champions on the opening day, Keiko Segura opened Japan’s gold-medal tally in the Women’s C3 Individual Pursuit, Kévin Le Cunff won the Men’s C4 Individual Pursuit, before teammate Alexandre Léauté secured the Men’s C2 Individual Pursuit crown, and, finally, Li Zhangyu (China) added to his 2016 Olympic title with victory in the Men’s C1 Individual Pursuit.

| World Championships: Friday morning roundup

Track action at the World Championships resumed this morning with the latest batch of qualifying and Omnium races, starting with the Women’s Elite Team Pursuit qualifying which the British team comfortably headed, before Emma Hinze (Germany) produced a strong performance to edge the Women’s Elite 500m Time Trial qualifying.

Meanwhile, Flurina Rigling (Switzerland) won the 200m Time Trial to seize the early initiative in the Women’s C2 Omnium, as did Tom Ruddock (Great Britain) in the Men’s C1, Alexandre Léauté (France) in the Men’s C2, and Mel Pemble (Canada) in the Women’s C3 omniums.

Turning attention away from the velodrome, the first Mountain Bike medals were up for grabs in the Junior Downhill races today. It proved to be a fruitful outing for the New Zealand team who completed a podium clean sweep in the Junior Women’s race, with Erice van Leuven dominating the field to win by over five seconds ahead of Poppy Lane in 2nd and Sacha Earnest in 3rd.

Henri Kiefer (Germany) claimed a much tighter victory in the Junior Men’s race, pipping Bodhi Kuhn (Canada) to the win by less than half of a second. Léo Abella (France) was a further three seconds adrift in third. 

| Matej Mohorič secures Tour de Pologne overall as Tim Merlier wins final stage

After six intense days of racing, the Tour de Pologne came to a close on Friday with the seventh and final stage in which Tim Merlier made a late dart to the line to win his second stage of the race. The Belgian narrowly edged out Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), as Matteo Moschetti’s (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) early flyer failed to pay off.

© Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Tim Merlier made a statement of intent this week, winning two stages.

Tim Merlier made a statement of intent this week, winning two stages. Photo: © Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Heading into the final day of racing, the GC had been tantalisingly poised, with Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) leading the race by hundredths of a second from second-placed João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). Both riders recognised that the final day of the Tour de Pologne is usually a ceremonial bunch sprint, but knew that bonus seconds would be up for grabs along the way.

As it was, a thrilling final day lay in store as the peloton allowed no breakaway riders to go up the road ahead of the intermediate sprint. With three, two and one bonus seconds on offer to the first three riders across the line, all was set for a Mohorič and Almeida duel. Fearing a last-day coup - just as he had achieved himself against Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) at last year’s CRO Race - Mohorič lined up his Bahrain Victorious teammates for a full-blown lead-out and duly took maximum bonus seconds, giving him a one-second lead at the top of the standings.

With Mohorič safely shepherded through the remainder of the stage, the sprinters battled it out for the win and it was Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) who emerged victorious following early accelerations by de Kleijn and Gaviria who finished second and third, respectively.

| EOLO-Kometa to be renamed as Team Polti in 2024, as company returns to cycling

In news that will come to the delight of Italian cycling fans, steam application company Polti will make its long-awaited return to professional cycling in 2024 as the title sponsor of EOLO-Kometa. The team of Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso will be renamed Team Polti over the winter, reviving the spirit of the team which graced professional cycling between 1983 and 2000.

“It’s great news that a company with Polti’s tradition is returning to cycling and trusting our project,” gleamed team manager, Alberto Contador. “It’s nice to see that a sponsor with such great heritage in professional cycling and which performed so well will be on your team’s jersey. It’s great motivation and allows us to continue growing in the long term with a three-year agreement, and to already shape a great team for 2024.”

Team Polti were known for their strikings kits and enjoyed a long list of victories in their previous sponsorship stint in pro cycling, winning the points classification of both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, as well Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Giro di Lombardia and the Tour of Flanders.

EOLA-Kometa have won stages of the Giro d’Italia through Lorenzo Fortunato and Davide Bais thus far in their short history, and will seek a wildcard as Team Polti for next year’s race.

| Caleb Ewan opts to skip World Championships

Caleb Ewan has pulled out of Australia’s team for the Elite Men’s Road Race at the World Championships having originally been named in its eight-man roster for Sunday’s race.

Ewan’s withdrawal comes after Robert Stannard also dropped out of the team on Wednesday after an alleged doping violation was revealed by the UCI. Matthew Dinham and Alex Edmondson, both of dsm-firmenich, have been drafted into the team to replace the pair.

“After discussions between Caleb and team management, Caleb decided that he couldn’t be at his very best for these World Championships, and therefore he has withdrawn himself from the team,” said Mathew Hayman, Australia’s directeur sportif,  in a statement released by AusCycling.

“While we had wanted him to be part of the team, we fully respect and support his decision. With our eight riders, we have a well-rounded ARA Australian Cycling Team that can support our high ambitions at these World Championships.”

The withdrawal continues a tough season for Ewan who has only picked up one victory in 2023 and withdrew during stage 13 of the Tour de France in his most recent outing. Going further back, Ewan has only taken one WorldTour victory since the beginning of 2022, with that coming on stage 3 of the 2022 Tirreno-Adriatico.

© Velo Collection (David Ramos) / Getty Images

Caleb Ewan struggled at the Tour de France.

Caleb Ewan struggled at the Tour de France. © Velo Collection (David Ramos) / Getty Images

| Louis Meintjes close to two-year contract extension with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

According to sources close to GCN, Louis Meintjes is set to extend his stay with Intermarché-Circus-Wanty by an extra two years, keeping him at the team until the end of the 2025 season.

Meintjes, who hasn’t raced since fracturing his collarbone in a crash on stage 14 of the Tour de France, is now in his third year with the team having first joined in 2020. Since then he’s picked up two wins, most notably at last season’s Vuelta a España where the South African won on the stage 15 summit finish atop Les Praeres.

The 31-year-old is currently on the team’s provisional start list for this year’s edition of the Spanish Grand Tour once again, with the race starting on August 26 in Barcelona.

| UAE Team Emirates secure signing of promising youngster Filippo Baroncini

UAE Team Emirates has signed former under-23 world champion Filippo Baroncini on a two-year contract from Lidl-Trek for the 2024 season.

Baroncini burst onto the scene in 2021 when he won the under-23 road race world title in Leuven after breaking free on the final climb before holding off a strong group of chasers who were led home by Biniam Girmay (Eritrea) and Olav Kooij (Netherlands). The result secured the Italian a contract with Lidl-Trek, although he struggled to make an impact in the pro peloton in his two years with the team.

“UAE Team Emirates has always been a team that I have observed with a lot of admiration. From the outside they always seem really determined and united so to be part of that group is something that always interested me,” Baroncini said in a press release.

“UAE are the first team in the world in the UCI ranking and to be so it requires having a winning mentality and big ambitions and characteristics that reflect me as a rider, so I will do my best to reciprocate their trust and make the step in my career I am looking for.”

© Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

Filippo Baroncini crosses the line first in the Under-23 Road Road at the 2021 World Championships.

Filippo Baroncini crosses the line first in the Under-23 Road Road at the 2021 World Championships. © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images

| Ilan Van Wilder and Louis Vervaeke extend deals with Soudal-Quick Step

Belgian duo Ilan Van Wilder and Louis Vervaeke have extended their contracts with Soudal-Quick Step until the end of the 2025 season. The announcement comes on the final day of the Tour de Pologne where Van Wilder secured fourth overall, continuing his strong form this season having also finished 12th at the Giro d’Italia and taken a podium at the Volta ao Algarve.

“For me it’s important to be happy in the team,” Van Wilder said in a press release. “This was one of the factors that made it really easy to sign a new deal.

“It’s an honour to be part of one of the best squads in the world. I had two great years and I am delighted I can continue here. I improved a lot since coming here and I plan on becoming better and better with the help of the team.”

Vervaeke, who joined the team in 2021, has also been a key rider for the Belgian outfit, providing support for Remco Evenepoel in his 2022 and 2023 Liège–Bastogne–Liège victories, plus at the 2022 Vuelta a España.