Dutch men's cycling team breaks world record in team sprint

The Dutch team sprinters successfully defended their 2020 Tokyo title at the Olympic Games in Paris on Tuesday. Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen, and Jeffrey Hoogland defeated the Great Britain team in the final on the cycling track of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. They did so in a world record time: 40.949. The British lost by almost a second. The bronze went to Australia, who beat France.

In the team sprint, three riders start, one of whom sends out from the leading position after each lap. The third rider determines the time.

Two years ago, the Dutch had a weak moment and lost to the Australians on the same track where they now won their second Olympic title. There were many reasons this happened. Van den Berg had struggled with a back injury for a long time, and Hoogland had lost some of his motivation after the Tokyo Games. The 'Bullet Train' had to pull itself together, while the chemistry between Lavreysen and Hoogland, in particular, was no longer ideal.

However, they seized power again last year at the World Championships in Glasgow. However, it was not as convincing as, for example, at the World Championships in Berlin in 2020 and the Games in Tokyo. There were also still some problems. Lavreysen, five-time world sprint champion, wanted Hugo Haak back as coach, while Hoogland got along better with his successor Mehdi Kordi. Haak, the national coach who achieved success with the sprinters in Tokyo, was added to the coaching staff as an assistant.

However, the focus returned after Hoogland completed a private project, the world record for the kilometer time trial. In early January, they conquered the European title with apparent ease. This was followed by training camps in Stavanger, Norway, and a single race.

All the other countries were once again in their shadow in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. To the enthusiasm of the many Dutch fans that were present, they had already bettered their own world record from 2020 in the first round: 41.191. In the final, they went a fraction faster.