On the 6th and last day of the European Track Cycling Championships, Lea Sophie Friedrich won gold and Maximilien Dörnbach silver in the keirin – the eleventh and twelfth medals for the German team.
In the men’s race, Marc Jurczyk started third, directly in front of his teammate Maximilian Dörnbach. Halfway through the race, both went forward together, but only Dörnbach, third in the time trial, was able to keep up the pace and finished second. Frenchman Sebastian Vigier grabbed gold. His teammate Melvin Landerneau finished third. Jurczyk was sixth and last in the final.
Friedrich im Keirin more than ever the measure of all things
Lea Sophie Friedrich had previously raced to gold. Friedrich, who was only fifth out of six on the grid, immediately moved forward after half the distance when the pacemaker motorbike retired from the race and then never let the lead be taken from him. Silver in the keirin went to Urszula Los of Poland, bronze to Elena Starikova of Ukraine.
The two-time world champion defended her European title and is more than ever the measure of all things in keirin. The woman from Cottbus also won the preliminary and the semi-finals. After gold in the team sprint, it is the second European Championship gold from Munich for the 22-year-old.
The three-time European champion Emma Hinze canceled participation in the Keirin at short notice because she was too exhausted from the previous races. Friedrich and Hinze (team sprint, time trial, sprint) share all titles in the short-term disciplines.
Keirin is also known as a combat sprint because several athletes compete directly against each other on the track. Before that, a pacemaker on a motorbike or electric bike sets the pace before pulling out halfway through the race after the 4th lap, leaving the oval to the athletes.
Madison: BDR duo in sixth place
Franziska Brauße and Lea Lin Teutenberg didn’t have a chance on the podium in the Madison second-team race. They finished sixth. After 150 laps Italy was ahead. France and Denmark followed.