December 5/21 12:24 pm - Kelsey Mitchell 3rd in Final Champions League Standings - UPDATED

Posted by Editoress on 12/5/21
 

The final round of the pandemic-shortened Champions League took place on Saturday in London, with Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell, Canada's top performer, finishing third overall in the Women's Sprint competition. Maggie Coles-Lyster finished just off the podium in the Women's Endurance competition, fourth overall.

Initially scheduled for five rounds, the second round in France was cancelled due to COVID before the series began, with London adding a second round. The final round - supposed to take place next week in Israel - was also cancelled due to rapid closing of borders because of the spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

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Women's Sprint & Keirin
Mitchell and Series leader Emma Hinze of Germany both easily worked their way through the preliminary and semi-final rounds to the Final. Canada's Lauriane Genest - possibly still suffering the effects of being taken down in a crash the night before by Hinze, in the Keirin, didn't make it past the first round. Mitchell tried to come by Hinze on the final straightaway, but couldn't quite manage it.

In the Keirin, Genest also exited in the first round, while Mitchell had no problems qualifying for the Final, where she was joined by Hinze and her German rival Lea Friedrich. By making the Final, Hinze ensured herself of the overall title, as did Friedrich in second overall. Olena Starikova (Ukr) took the Keirin win, ahead of Mitchell.

Mitchell wins SemiFinal to advance to Final

Women's Sprint Final, Mitchell vs Hinze

Women's Keirin Final

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Hinze finished the series with 128 points, ten ahead of Friedrich, while Mitchell was third with 102 points. Genest finished ninth with 53 points.

Hinze said, "I'm really proud that I take the jersey home because it was really close today and I didn't know how the race would go and how much strength I can find in my body because I'm really, really tired. I think it was harder than the Olympics today because of two days of racing that much with fast races. I'm pretty proud, happy and really satisfied. Of course, my goal was to win but I didn't know what to expect because I've never done it before. I knew it was going to be hard. I just try my best and I don't think about the overall win, just heat to heat."

Kelsey Mitchell, at the end of a very successful Series, commented, "I had an amazing time competing in the Champions League. It was such a cool atmosphere and the racing was intense! Every race was a battle, but I learned a lot and am proud to finish third among all the best riders. Finishing up the League with a silver in both the Keirin and the Sprint in front of my parents (who flew out to London to watch) and a packed Velodrome was really the best way to finish off the Series. I am excited to take what I have learned and bring it into the new year. For now, one more race in Portugal, and then heading home for the holidays."

Women's Scratch & Elimination
Katie Archibald (GBr), leader of the Series since the first round, was able to wrap up the title with a second in the Scratch Race behind Yumi Kajihara (Jpn). Coles-Lyster, with a third place ahead of Annette Edmondson (Aus) and Kirsten Wild (Ned), was still in contention for a podium spot  with the Elimination still to come - Edmondson was at 86 points, Wild at 85 and Coles-Lyster at 83.

Unfortunately for Maggie, she was the first of the three to get knocked out in the Elimination, going seventh from the end. Edmondson was the fifth last, sewing up third overall with 97 points, while Wild battled Archibald for the win, finishing second and securing second overall with 100 points. Maggie finished fourth with 94 points.

Maggie Coles-Lyster

Archibald, winning in front of a home crowd, said, "This title means a big deal, more than that - just how professional it has been, just how much support we've had, and the amount of amazing feedback I've had. This is year one, Discovery are locked in until 2029 - I just feel so confident that it's going to go from strength to strength. I'm proud to have been backing it from day one. I would have really loved to go to Israel next week. But selfishly, it feels pretty good to do it here in the UK."

Maggie Coles-Lyster reflected on the whole experience of racing the Champions League series:  "The last two rounds of the Track Champions League in London was the perfect way to finish off the most epic series of my life. Racing in front of thousands in the sold out arena, everyone back home cheering me on over CBC or GCN, it was everything track cycling needs to gain momentum and exposure."

"Personally, for me Round 3 was a rough night in the office. I lost my groove and engagement and some bad results bumped me down to fourth in the overall. Both the beauty and the tough part of this series is how close the points system runs and one bad race can completely change the overall results. It's like one big eight race long omnium - you have to show up for each one. I got my groove back and flipped a 180 for the Grand Finale and raced to a third place in the Scratch Race, bumping me back up in the rankings with only four points separating second through fourth place in the overall. The final Elimination was upon us and I raced my heart out for the podium spot, but came up short, finishing fourth overall behind the legends Katie Archibald, Kirsten Wild and Annette Edmonson in what was Annette and Kirsten's final race before retirement."

"I feel honoured and proud to have raced with, learned from and proved myself among these best track riders in the world in what's quickly become the most popular and prestigious track cycling league around. This back to back racing was everything I needed to hit that next level out on the boards and I can't wait to come back after my upcoming off season and be ready to be a force to be reckoned with on the road, track and in future Track Champion Leagues!"

Men's Keirin & Sprint
Harrie Lavreysen (Ned) led the Sprint series from the first round, although his overall victory wasn't ensured until the final event, with Stefan Botticher (Ger) making a strong run for the title in the final two rounds. Botticher edged Lavreysen in a drag race to the line in the Keirin final. Canadian entry Hugo Barrette had the misfortune of going up against Lavreysen in his first heat of the Keirin, finishing third after an early attack attempt, and not advancing.

Barrette attacks

Men's Sprint Final

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In the Sprint, Hugo went up against Lavreysen again, getting knocked out in the first round. Lavreysen, by making the Final was assured of the overall title, but avenged his earlier loss to Botticher. Lavreysen won the overall title with 147 points, followed by Botticher at 133 and young Russian revelation Mikhail Yakovlev at 72. Hugo finished 14th overall with 41 points - 9th to 15th were all within an eight point spread.

Lavreysen commented after his win, "It was really, really good. I'm really happy with the win. After the first heat [of the Sprint], I knew I took the jersey for the overall win and that made it really, really special. And I think I'm unbeaten in two years now in the sprint so I really wanted to keep that streak. And I'm really happy with the result. Of course when you're the World Champion, it's not like you expect to win but I want to win and I think I feel bad if I don't win it. Every event that I don't win, I need to go in with a fresh mind otherwise I make mistakes. I didn't think a lot about winning before starting this but after this, I'm pretty happy."

Men's Scratch & Elimination
The men's Endurance category was the only one to have an upset, with American Gavin Hoover overtaking Spain's Sebastian Mora for the title in the final day. Going into the final day, Mora led Hoover by five points, but in the Scratch, Mora was relegated for causing a crash and Hoover finished sixth. Mora had to basically win the Elimination and hope Hoover was eliminated early, but the Spaniard went out sixth and Hoover was still in (he went out next), taking the title. Hoover finished with 107 points, five ahead of Mora. Corbin Strong, the leader after the first round, was third with 93 points.

Hoover, following his last event takeover of the lead, said, "I don't quite believe it. I was just so excited to be here and get the invitation after the World Championships and I thought, no matter what happens, it's a success. To win, it's just incredible and at a new series which I hope is the future of track. I definitely didn't expect it. I thought I could be competitive but I looked at the start list on the day and thought everyone could win so it definitely wasn't expected."

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Results

Champions League Moves to London for Round 3

Top-5 Finishes for Coles-Lyster, Genest & Mitchell at Champions League #2

Mitchell & Coles-Lyster Win at Opening Round of Champions League