The Australian males’s group pursuit squad broke the world file within the occasion’s first spherical on the Paris Olympics, and can face Group GB within the remaining on Wednesday.
The quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien clocked a time of three:40.730, taking a staggering 1.3 seconds off the earlier benchmark, set by Italy on the Tokyo Olympics.
GB had come near Italy’s file of three:42.032 of their first spherical warmth in opposition to Denmark, the world champions, after they rode a 3:42.151.
The 2 nations will face off within the group pursuit remaining on 7 August at 17:33 UK time. Australia haven’t gained gold within the males’s occasion since 2004, earlier than a interval of domination from the Brits that noticed them win the title on the subsequent three Olympics.
“I feel it is going to be quick tomorrow,” mentioned Welsford. “It won’t be as quick, as a result of we had a little bit of a slipstream coming into the final two laps, however I feel, with the circumstances once more and the extent of the Olympic remaining, you are going to discover that further enhance.
“The Nice Britain boys, I do know all of them effectively, they’re actually good racers, and so they actually come out flying for these rides. It will be an excellent battle tomorrow.”
Australia’s group pursuit world file in Paris got here moments earlier than the Dutch males’s group dash squad turned the primary ever to go under 41 seconds within the three-lap occasion.
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, opinions and skilled shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
The trio of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland broke their earlier world file earlier within the night with a time of 41.191, earlier than bettering it once more within the remaining with a 40.949, beating the Brits to the gold medal.
The monitor in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines witnessed 5 world information on Monday night time, all within the ladies’s group dash. New Zealand, Germany and Nice Britain all took it in turns to beat the benchmark, with the latter breaking it thrice on their path to the gold medal.
With its large monitor, the French nationwide velodrome is taken into account one of many quickest on the earth. The circumstances in Paris have additionally been beneficial for world-record-breaking, with sizzling and humid climate maintaining the air stress low.
Group GB rode with out Dan Bigham within the group pursuit first spherical, the 32-year-old opting to take a seat it out after what he described as a “fairly huge crash” final week.
Bigham got here down throughout an open coaching session on Friday afternoon, when he swung up the monitor in a group pursuit change and collided with one other rider. He rode the qualifying warmth on Monday, however was changed by Charlie Tanfield within the first spherical, in a quartet that additionally included Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wooden.
“[I] have been doing my greatest to get well rapidly, so hopefully one other 24 hours of relaxation does the trick,” Bigham wrote on his Instagram account.
