(Reuters) – Italy’s Filippo Ganna smashed the men’s individual pursuit world record en route to clinching his fifth world title in the event at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in France on Friday.
Ganna, who broke the Hour record last week, clocked 3:59.636 in the 4,000m event to better the mark set by American Ashton Lambie at last year’s world championships by nearly 0.3 seconds.
The 26-year-old powered to victory ahead of compatriot Jonathan Milan, with Ivo Oliveira of Portugal beating Britain’s Dan Bigham in the third-place playoff.
“Maybe some beers, maybe a gin and tonic, maybe champagne. Who knows, we’re in France,” Ganna said when asked how he would celebrate his world record.
Mathilde Gros won the women’s sprint race to claim her first world title in front of a raucous home crowd, with Germany’s Lea Friedrich finishing runner-up and her compatriot Emma Hinze taking bronze after beating Dutchwoman Laurine van Riessen.
The Netherlands took two gold medals with veteran Yoeri Havik winning the men’s points race and Jeffrey Hoogland retaining his 1km time trial title.
Hoogland finished in 58.106 seconds to claim his third world title in the event, beating Frenchman Melvin Landerneau and Alejandro Martinez Chorro of Spain to top spot on the podium.
In the first final of the evening, the 31-year-old Havik finished ahead of Germany’s Roger Kluge and Belgium’s Fabio van den Bossche in the 40km race over 160 laps.
Jennifer Valente added a world title to her Olympic crown, giving the United States a dominant gold in the women’s omnium after winning three of the four races. Maike van der Duin of the Netherlands and Portugal’s Maria Martins completed the podium.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
