Lavreysen rested for an hour before Olympic sprint final: "There’s no way my competitor has things organized this well"

Three Olympic gold medals and three world titles. It's safe to say that Harrie Lavreysen had an extraordinary year. His full focus was on achieving an Olympic hat-trick in Paris. For three months, the cyclist from Luiksgestel in the Netherlands trained intensely. But as he shared on Niki Terpstra's Speed On Wheels podcast, rest was just as crucial — even right before the big race.

In the podcast, Lavreysen looks back on his experience at the sprint tournament in Paris. "I was really nervous before the semifinals. I don’t know why. I was up against Jack Carlin, and he’s known for pulling crazy moves. We saw that later on that day," says, referring to Carlin's fight for bronze with Jeffrey Hoogland. Despite his nerves, Lavreysen managed to comfortably beat his British rival in two heats.

After the semifinals, Lavreysen stuck to a meticulous plan. With his hotel just 100 meters from the track, he had three hours to spare. "I’d already packed a small bag with food before the semifinals. After finishing, I quickly cooled down, grabbed my bag, and cycled back to the hotel in my Olympic track suit. I took my bike into the room, and laid down on the bed. I was able to lie there for an hour I think, I ate my rice, and then headed back to the track for the finals. Lying there, I thought, ‘There’s no way my competitor has things organized this well.’”

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Lavreysen went on to win gold in his first-ever kilometer time trial at the World Championships

Powerful Lavreysen reaps rewards but pays a price

Hattrick Harrie also talked about how track cycling, especially the sprint, has evolved. In the past, Theo Bos could compete for the win with his relatively slender body, but nowadays everything is about strength. "We’re not really cyclists anymore," he said, referring to the sport's increasing emphasis on power. Lavreysen is incredibly muscular: his leg press exceeds 400 kilograms, and he squats 250 kilograms. However, these impressive stats come at a cost. "We always have a kind of baseline level of muscle soreness, but we manage it with sports massages and constant protein intake to speed up that muscular recovery."

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