UCI Track Champions League – Emma Hinze bounces back from crash but lead shrinks, Harrie Lavreysen in control

Updated 03/12/2021 at 23:33 GMT

Emma Hinze has 95 points in the UCI Track Champions League, two clear of Lea Friedrich. Harrie Lavreysen heads the men’s standings on 110 points with Stefan Botticher facing a huge task to overturn a 14-point gap in the final race of the series in London on Saturday. Watch the UCI Track Champions League live on the Eurosport app, eurosport.co.uk and discovery+.

‘Contact!’ – Hinze and Genest collide and crash in keirin

Emma Hinze (Germany) bounced back from a nasty crash to finish the penultimate round of the UCI Track Champions League with her lead in the women’s sprint standings intact – albeit slashed from 18 points to two.

Hinze saw off compatriot Lea Friedrich, who had briefly replaced her at the top of the standings during the event, in the final sprint to stay in pole position ahead of Saturday’s finale in London.

Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) cut a jaded figure as his winning run in the men’s sprint division came to an end, with Stefan Botticher (Germany) keeping his outside hopes of overall victory alive with victory in the keirin.

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Lavreysen holds a 14-point lead over Botticher with 40 points still in play in London.

Women’s Sprint – Hinze shrugs off crash to win

Hinze redeems herself in sprint

After suffering a serious bump in the keirin heats, Hinze attacked early in the sprint showdown with Friedrich and held on to reclaim her overall lead.

“I am really proud because after crashing in the keirin and managing to win,” said Hinze.

“My body hurts a little bit but my head was still there and I wanted to win. I had some splinters in my ass that they took out after the race.”

Men’s Keirin – ‘I’m the keirin king’

Botticher wins keirin as Lavreysen gets it wrong

Botticher claimed the scalp of Lavreysen for the second time in the series with a brilliant move as the Dutchman faded into fourth.

The 29-year-old timed his attack through the field to perfection while Lavreysen weaved on the top bank before diving back into the field to gain a slipstream that never really arrived, ultimately fading to finish fourth.

“I am the keirin king at the moment. I just hope that I have some good racing tomorrow again. I’m pretty happy to win here, it’s always special. I had a big victory here [in the UK] in the World Cup in 2013. It’s a big feeling to win here and hopefully I will have another chance tomorrow.”

Women’s Keirin - Friedrich profits from Hinze crash

‘Display of sheer power’ – Friedrich claims statement win in keirin

Friedrich exploded through the final two laps to take a dominant victory in the women’s keirin final.

With overall rival Hinze already out after her crash, the German seized the invitation to close the gap at the top to win.

“There were two laps to go, I control the race and with one lap to go, I go really fast. It was an unbelievable feeling, it was really painful and a really hard race. I’m happy to have the points and now to the sprint race.

Martha Bayona (Colombia) and Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) took second and third respectively.

Men’s Sprint - 'There was nothing easy about it'

Lavreysen pips Botticher in sprint

Lavreysen needed every centimetre of track to overhaul Stefan Botticher (Germany) in the men’s sprint final.

Botticher had impressed in the heats to hint at an upset and led into the final corner, only for Lavreysen to grit his way past in the closing moments.

Nicolas Paul (Trinidad & Tobago), who started the event in provisional third after Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) pulled out due to Covid prior to the event, was a shock early casualty in the heats.

“It was a hard race. I expected Stefan [Botticher] to be really quick. There was nothing easy about it, he did a really technical race. I did a really good build up and it was really hard to make a difference. I was lucky to have a slip stream in the last lap so I could get a little higher top speed. It feels good – it was only three points extra but every little counts.”

Sprint standings

Women

1. Emma Hinze (Germany): 95 points
2. Lea Friedrich (Germany): 93 points
3. Kelsey Mitchell (Canada): 68 points

Men

1. Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands): 110 points
2. Stefan Botticher (Germany): 96 points
3. Vasilijus Lendel (Lithuania): 64 points

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The UCI Track Champions League returns for the final round on Saturday and you can watch all of the action live on the Eurosport app, eurosport.co.uk and discovery+. Find out more about the "mind-blowing" new era for track cycling.

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