"Bullet Train" does it again! Dutchmen win Team Sprint overwhelmingly, silver for women

The Netherlands secured a nice win in the Team Sprint at the World Track Cycling Championships. While the women took the silver Wednesday night, the men fulfilled their role as favorites with gold not much later.

The Team Sprint was the first event for the sprint bombs at the World Championships. Both the men and women competed. The ladies competed for the medals first. Hetty van der Wouw, Steffi van der Peet, and debutante Kimberly Kalee were in action in qualifying. The more experienced Kyra Lamberink would later replace the latter. The Dutch women got off to an outstanding start with a second time behind the top British favorites in qualifying.

There was a great chance to win a medal for the number four of the Paris Olympics, as the number two of the Games, New Zealand, was absent. Moreover, Germany, the number three of Paris, had lined up a completely different team. In the second round, the Netherlands made the expected switch: Lamberink instead of Kalee. With their opponent, Poland, they encountered no problems at all, and with a time of 46.803, the women nicely qualified for the final against the British ladies, who, with a time in the second round of 46.147, were the towering favorites. This was evident in the final, where Great Britain was too big for the Dutch ladies, who received a silver medal afterward.

Dutchmen easily win gold again

The Dutchmen in the Team Sprint, Harrie Lavrysen, Roy van den Berg, and Jeffrey Hoogland, convincingly secured their place in the final. The highly successful Team Sprint trio, also called the "Bullet Train," convincingly qualified for the next round on Wednesday afternoon with the fastest time. In the second round, the trio awaited the Germans. They eventually overpowered the eastern neighbors by a fat second and advanced to the final as the top favorite.

In the final, the Australians were the Netherlands' opponents. Van den Berg immediately gave the Netherlands a nice lead, which grew steadily. The Dutchmen won overwhelmingly, with a difference of more than half a second. Silver went to Australia. In the battle for bronze, Japan surprisingly defeated Great Britain.