Track Cycling Worlds: De Buyst & Bossuyt Results | Updates

The fact that Belgium qualified for the small final was a positive surprise, although it was immediately clear that winning a bronze medal against the British would be very difficult. The Belgians seemed to have resigned themselves to fourth place in advance, as strongman Shari Bossuyt was removed from the team for the small final, with a view to the omnium the next day.

Marith Vanhove, Bossuyt’s replacement, eventually achieved a time of 4:18.675 together with Katrijn De Clercq, Hélène Hesters and Luca Vierstraete. This made the Belgian women three seconds slower than the Belgian record they had set earlier in the evening in the first round of the pursuit tournament. Great Britain was six seconds faster, taking the bronze. In the grand final, gold went to Italy and silver to Germany.

For the Belgian women, who are aiming to participate in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the pursuit tournament turned out to be a solid success thanks to their fourth place and the new national record. On the second evening, Hélène Hesters had also achieved an outlier with bronze in the elimination race, the first Belgian medal at this World Cup.