SM
Watford vs. Leeds: 19 hrs 54 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Tokyo 2020: GB's men's team pursuit crown under threat

:Headline: Tokyo 2020: GB's men's team pursuit crown under threat:
The session saw three of the fastest times ever recorded in qualifying.
Sports Mole

Great Britain lived to fight another day in defence of their long-standing Olympic men's team pursuit crown after a bizarre qualifying session at the Tokyo Games, but were given every indication their time will soon be up.

While Laura Kenny and the women's squad comfortably advanced in defending their own title – albeit losing their world record to Germany in the process – Ed Clancy, Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon and Ollie Wood only secured a top-four place after Australia failed with a second run at the Izu velodrome.

Their time of three minutes 47.507 seconds was almost three seconds faster than any British team – Olympic champions in this event since 2008 – had gone before, but in a session which saw three of the fastest times ever recorded in qualifying, it was only just enough.

"Three forty-seven is alright but we have done that in training," he said. "We weren't in the place we were hoping to be there.

"We were fully prepared for four or five teams to break the world record. If anything, I'm surprised more teams weren't going quicker including ourselves, so perhaps conditions weren't what we were expecting."

There was a surprise too for the women's squad as Germany took almost three seconds out of the world record that had stood since Kenny, Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald and Joanna Rowsell Shand set it to win gold in Rio five years ago.

Prior to Monday, Britain's women had set a world record in every round of both Olympic team pursuits to have been contested. Kenny predicted before the Games the record would be broken "three of four times" here, but Barker admitted they did not expect Germany to be the ones doing it.

"We fully expected it to be the Australians or the Americans so for it to happen when we weren't looking meant we didn't need to worry too much because the worst had happened," she said.

Kenny, Barker, Archibald and Josie Knight were second fastest with a time of 4:09.022 – having been more than a second up on the German pace at one point before fading away.

That sets up a first-round contest with world champions the United States, who will have been heartened to see Chloe Dygert – victim of a horror crash at last year's road world championships – looking more like her old self with some monster pulls.

Though Dygert looked in pain in last week's time trial here, she helped the US set a time of 4:10.118 – also faster than that Rio world record – to show they will be no pushovers on Tuesday.

Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Laura Kenny and Josie Knight qualified second fastest (Danny Lawson/PA)

"We can be really, really happy," Barker added. "It's important to remember the time we did in Rio was with two teams on the track, which is worth seconds, so to go that quickly with one team shows how much we've gained.

"I think we were about a second faster so to be able to do that on our own is quite a big step.

"It's just unfortunate that Germany were so much faster but I think we can be happy with that."

Aside from some blistering times, the session will be remembered for Porter's scary crash, which came around 1.5 kilometres into Australia's 4km run.

Alex Porter was left stunned after his bike crumbled beneath him (Danny Lawson/PA)

Pictures showed the stem of the bike split in half, a catastrophic failure which will raise questions over Australia's kit, with every nation pushing the envelope on innovation.

"I guess sport is entertainment, hopefully that was entertaining," said Australia's performance director Simon Jones, formerly of British Cycling.

"Obviously there was a mechanical failure, we're not too sure what happened exactly. Obviously there was something wrong with the bars."

body check tags ::

amp_article__457806 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-08-02 12:44:01:
html db last update - 2021-08-02 11:34:10 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Laura Kenny

Click here for more stories about Great Britain

Share this article now:
TG
Read Next:
Tokyo 2020: Gemany smash GB's world record in women's team pursuit
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Laura Kenny Elinor Barker Alex Porter Katie Archibald Josie Knight Ed Clancy Chloe Dygert Ethan Hayter Ethan Vernon Cycling
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Tokyo 2020: Gemany smash GB's world record in women's team pursuit
Liverpool 'resigned to missing out on top managerial candidate'

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Man City injury, suspension list vs. Arsenal - De Bruyne, Stones and more

1

MC

Key Man City duo miss training ahead of Arsenal title clash

2

KM

Preview: Aston Villa vs. Leicester Women - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

3

PA

Barcelona could be missing seven players for Las Palmas clash

4

BC

Man Utd could raise £105m through player sales this summer

5

MU

Arsenal 'optimistic over triple injury boost for Man City clash'

6

A'

Real Madrid 'priced out of move for Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold'

7

RM

Why Chelsea winger Sterling will relish Burnley game

8

WC

Key midfield trio 'absent from Real Madrid training on Thursday'

9

KM

Man Utd, Spurs 'alerted to cut-price fee for in-demand defender'

10

MU


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .