"I knew I had to go for that kilometer at some point": Lavreysen praised by Sir Chris Hoy; Hoogland disappointed

With an impressive world record at sea level, Harrie Lavreysen was the strongest in the kilometer time trial at the Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup, Denmark. He defeated titleholder Jeffrey Hoogland and established himself even further above the rest with this world title.

With fifteen world titles in his career, Lavreysen now holds the record on his own. He has surpassed the Frenchman Arnaud Tournant, who had fourteen. "I knew I was on the right track," Lavreysen told NOS. "And I knew that record could be broken at some point. The track world championships have been held for over a hundred years and are full of great records and rankings. The fact that I get to be at the top of one of those lists is really special."

His title is even more remarkable because the triple Olympic champion from Paris had never competed in an international kilometer time trial before. "I knew I had to go for that kilometer time trial at some point," said Lavreysen. "This year seemed perfect for it, right after the Olympics. And I really enjoyed it today." With a time of 57.321, he was more than a tenth of a second faster than in the qualification round, where he had already set a new lowland record earlier in the day.

Legend Chris Hoy praised him, Hoogland disappointed as hell

Lavreysen is now one of only two riders to ever become world champion in the sprint, team sprint, keirin and the kilometer. Only legend Chris Hoy achieved this before him. The Brit had nothing but praise for his successor. "He has copied me well," he joked. "I’ve felt lonely for so long. It's great to finally have someone join me. I had to analyze your race, but I couldn’t find a single mistake. It was perfect."

Hoogland was dethroned on Friday in the event where he had become world champion four times. "I'm incredibly disappointed," he said afterward. "I felt like my position on the bike was off, and I couldn’t accelerate. It just didn’t go well at all. I think this was my worst kilometer ever, and at the worst possible moment. I never really got going. It’s just really unfortunate that this happened in a final with Harrie in it."