The 2016 Track World Championships began with the team pursuit qualifying, with 14 teams fighting it out for eight spots in Thursday afternoon’s first round.
Great Britain put in a strong performance to set the fastest time of the afternoon completing their four kilometres in 3:55.664. Australia was second fastest with New Zealand in third. Australia set a time of 3:55.867 with New Zealand stopping the clock in a time of 3:57.050.
The three teams all rode carefully paced rides to ensure they qualified for the finals but saved their legs for the pursuits to come. However the Kiwi were a little ragged in their execution.
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The next round of the men’s team pursuit will be on Thursday afternoon with the finals during the evening session. The fastest eight teams go through to the finals and the qualification rules mean Great Britain will face Italy, while Australia will clash with New Zealand. Denmark will face the Netherlands, while Germany will face Russia.
The Italian squad, featuring Team Sky sprinter Elia Viviani, set the benchmark early on with a time of 3:57.800, beating the previous fastest time by almost 10 seconds. The Italians also dipped below four minutes for the first ever and set a new national record. Their time would stand up to tests from the Germans and the Danish – who looked set to beat them until they nearly lost their third man on the final lap. It wasn’t until the Commonwealth champions Australia rolled out that the Italians slipped down the rankings.
Australia looked confident and smooth as they went almost two seconds faster than Italy, putting the new benchmark at 3:55.867. The Great Britain team followed the Australians out on track to a rapturous cheer from the home crowd that hardly died down until they completed their four kilometres. With six riders to pick from, the Great Britain team opted to go for Bradley Wiggins, Owain Doull, Stephen Burke, and Jon Dibben.
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