Lavreysen bummed about tactical errors in lost semifinal keirin: "I messed up"

Harrie Lavreysen was unexpectedly eliminated in the semifinals of the keirin and could thus forget the big goal of four world titles in one event. The Dutchman was profoundly disappointed but could also put the loss of the world title into perspective.

Before the battle for the medals had begun, Lavreysen had already spoken to AD. There, he explained where it went wrong. "I made a tactical mistake in the semifinals. I waited too long and kept hanging at the upper level. Just plain super stupid. I messed up. Looking back, it's easy to comment; I could have done so much differently. But then again, I'm only human, and I make mistakes. I hate that it happened at the World Championships," he said. In the end, the gold went to the surprising Japanese Kento Yamasaki.

"Hat-trick Harrie" knew the event was unpredictable: one small mistake and you're out. "It's annoying. But I can handle it." The loss puts Lavreysen's incredible top year in perspective: he won gold three times at the Olympics. "I also realize again how special everything worked out at the Paris Olympics this summer. I do feel good so that I won't take this into the rest of the tournament. Although I must be careful because we've only had two days."

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Kilometer time trial uncharted territory for Lavreysen

He already has one world title in his pocket: he won the team sprint with Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg. That meant the fourteenth world title in total for the Dutchman. Later this week, he will focus on the kilometer time trial, where he will compete for the first time at a World Championship. "I'm very curious to see what I can show. It's unknown territory at this level. Fortunately, there are no tactics involved."