Katie Archibald and Dylan Bibic took the endurance titles at the Grand Finale of the UCI Track Champions League in London, while Harrie Lavreysen and Ellesse Andrews claimed the overall sprint titles, with the rider from New Zealand dominating the women's sprint events on the final night.
It was a return to the top step of the overall winner for Dutch rider Lavreysen, who won the sprint title at the inaugural edition but finished a close second to Australia's Matthew Richardson in 2022. For Archibald, it was also a second endurance title after American rider Jennifer Valente took the top step from her in 2022.
The rider from the United Kingdom didn't finish with a victory during the final evening, but after winning four of the five elimination races across the series and consistently performing in the scratch race, Archibald still finished 15 points ahead of Norway’s Anita Yvonne Stenberg to take the overall victory.
“It feels very good [to win the overall]. It wasn't a sort of unassailable lead at the end there. And it's a shame I suppose not to win in the final rounds,” said Archibald to reporters, including Cyclingnews. “I feel mainly bad because this was the race that my sister came to, so she might not be the lucky charm I was after, but I'm really happy.”
The two-time Olympic gold medallist finished fourth in the Scratch as fellow Scot Neah Evans slipped away for an electric win in the Lee Valley VeloPark. She was third in the Elimination which was won by Ireland’s Lara Gillespie, who was delighted to take the victory, having described Archibald as “an icon” to Eurosport earlier in the week.
“It's really cool. I'm really proud that I can pull it off and you always have to believe you can beat your icons otherwise what's the point of being in the sport?” said Gillespie to Cyclingnews. “You have to have the confidence but also there's huge respect there, I've learned a lot from people like her so yeah, pretty happy and I think I can just progress from here.”
Lavreysen reclaimed his sprint title after a dominant sequence of performances throughout the 2023 Track Champions League, but not without challenge as Australia’s Matt Richardson extended the rivalry from last year and defeated him in the sprint final.
Richardson, famous for emptying himself, was the only man to beat Lavreysen in a sprint during the series, once in Paris and London. However, the supreme Dutchman came straight back at him by winning a tense keirin final and vindicating his blue jersey reclamation in the final men's race of the night.
“I had a really good series. I didn’t know what to expect in Palma because I had a long break after my world champs, but I was really happy with how consistently I could perform in the league and closing it with a Keirin win is really great,” said Lavreysen.
The two-time Olympic and thirteen-time World Champion relished the close competition, stating that he learned a lot from Richardson’s tactics in the five-round series and even started the fighting talk for Paris next year.
“I think [the rivalry with Richardson] is a big thing, it keeps coming back and it's a good thing for the sport. It’s good for us and keeps me fresh because I really need to be focused every time I see him in the sprint. It takes some effort,” said Lavreysen.
“[I] definitely [learned something new]. I knew in the final what he wanted to do - stick under me. And it was a bummer that I let it happen, but next year in the Olympics that’s not gonna happen.”
Archibald similarly looked forward to the Olympics, crediting the five back-to-back rounds as a good opportunity to train mentally and build the ability to move on after a disappointing performance, which could be vital come Paris next year.
“I think that the psychological training has been really valuable. Both in handling the media and handling when races don't go well or don't go the way that you plan,” said Archibald.
“I'm quite poor at getting fixated on what's happened when you need to look forward to what's coming. That is what this series is all about. Because you're racing weekend to weekend, and the hour and a half turnaround between races makes you have to keep constantly shaking yourself off and saying it's happened, move on, and that's been really good.”
In the men’s endurance competition, 20-year-old Bibic had built up a lead in earlier rounds that was too big for anyone to overcome. He missed out on the scratch race and elimination race in London, but was consistent throughout and a sweep of both wins in Paris would’ve felt great heading into the Olympic year.
“I came here to win and it feels good to have achieved that goal. I've been in defence mode for these last two rounds and did what I had to do,” said Bibic. “After I'd sealed my overall win in the Scratch, it meant I could mess about a bit in the Elimination and have fun, and it's been nice to round off the season that way.”
Andrews continued her dominance in her debut at the Track Champions League. The young rider from New Zealand took the full haul of 40 points on the final night, extending her lead over Germany’s Alessa-Catrions Pröpster.
The Kiwi was much too strong for the field, beating Martha Bayona in the sprint final and taking another Keirin victory after passing Britain’s Emma Finucane and holding off Bayona again in the last event of the evening. She’s the current Keirin World Champion and was delighted with her current form trajectory with Paris on her mind.
“I couldn't have wished for a better night. I tried to push the pace in the Sprint final and keep Martha [Bayona] on the front. I wanted to come from behind so I'm really happy with how that one played out,” said Andrews.
“Then, my main goal for the Keirin final was to leave it all out on the track and fully empty the tank. I did that and it feels special to have won twice tonight in front of such a massive crowd. I loved this season so much and it feels quite surreal now it's over.”
All four leaders will now turn their focus to either the European Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands or the series of Track Nations Cups in Adelaide, Hong Kong and Milton in the early months of 2024 with the buildup to Paris vital to get right if they are to fight for Olympic medals.
