Dutch trio of Van den Berg, Lavreysen and Hoogland beat British to defend Olympic team sprint title

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MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France (AP) — Harrie Lavreysen figured that on a searing fast track in the velodrome outside of Paris, and going against the erstwhile sprinting kings from Britain, that his trio from the Netherlands would have to set a world record to defend their Olympic gold medal.

They didn’t need to — yet they did anyway.

Lavreysen joined teammates Roy van den Berg and Jeffrey Hoogland in shattering the mark the Dutch squad had set in their heat race earlier Tuesday night, easily beating Britain’s Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin to win the team sprint final at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

“Of course we were going for the gold medal. Breaking the world record twice? That was pretty special,” Lavreysen said. “I think we raised the stakes. We want to go quicker every time. So really happy with it.”

The Dutch had a big lead in the three-lap race when Van den Berg swung off the front after Lap 1. Lavreysen pushed the lead out even more. And by the time he moved out of the way, Hoogland was left to sprint to the finish with no pressure at all.

The time of 40.949 seconds beat Britain by nearly a full second, and the mark of 41.191 they set in their heat against Canada.

“The track is nice, warm and fast, and we were ready,” Hoogland said, “and then going under 41 seconds is amazing.”

The Netherlands knocked off its own Olympic record in qualifying Monday night, then lowered the world mark it set during its triumph at the Tokyo Olympics in the heats. But that merely sent Van den Berg, Lavreysen and Hoogland into the finals against their longtime nemesis Britain, pitting the two nations that have combined to win the last five gold medals.

It was never much of a contest for the gold medal this time.

The Dutch have dominated the team sprint since winning their first world title in 2018, and the latest Olympic gold sets up what could be a memorable Paris Games. Lavreysen and Hoogland also are among the favorites in the sprint and the keirin.

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“Look at the world record. The Dutch are a great team. They are three great individuals,” Carlin said. “We executed what we knew we could do. We went to that final and enjoyed it.”

The bronze medal went to Australia, which trailed the French team through two laps of their head-to-head race before anchor Matthew Glaetzer pulled back more than a tenth of a second on rival Rayan Helal to land on the podium.

“I think we should be proud,” Glaetzer said. “To bring it home and win the bronze final is special.”

In other events on the second night of track cycling at the Paris Games, the Australian men’s pursuit team of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien not only routed reigning Olympic champion Italy in their heat race but took its world record on the way to a gold-medal showdown with Britain.

The Australians covered 4,000 meters in 3:40.730, more than a second faster than Italy’s winning time at the Tokyo Games.

“Golly, we knew we were going quick, but I don’t think we realized we were going that quick out there,” Welsford said. “I think we just really gelled really well. The team out there today, we just really executed.”

The British, who had their streak of three straight Olympic pursuit titles snapped three years ago, subbed Charlie Tanfield into the lineup along with Ethan Hayter, Oliver Wood and Ethan Vernon to face Denmark. The quartet trailed by more than a second at one point before rallying to win in 4:42.151 and advance to the gold-medal race Wednesday night.

In the women’s team pursuit, New Zealand nearly broke the world record with a stunning time of 4:04.679 in qualifying.

The Americans, who have new Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner and time trial bronze medalist Chloe Dygert in the lineup, qualified second. Two-time gold medalist Britain was third and reigning world champion Italy fourth.

The biggest surprise was Germany, the defending Olympic champion, which was fifth-fastest in qualifying and can do no better than bronze when the heat races and medal rounds take place Wednesday night.

“One thing I learned from the Olympics last time I was here (in Tokyo) is you never know what to expect,” New Zealand’s Bryony Botha said. “We are trying to be realistic and just follow our own process. It seems to be paying off.”