The quartet of Franziska Brauße, Lisa Brennauer, Mieke Kröger and Laura Süßemilch beat rivals Italy by a clear margin on Thursday evening in Roubaix in 4:08.752 minutes, completing an all-round dominant performance that began with victory in qualifying and continued with a semi-final win, including lapping Ireland.
"We had to improve step by step. It worked out best in the final. That was a real dream," said Brennauer. Italy was considered an equal opponent beforehand and was then defeated by almost five seconds. "We are now enjoying what we have achieved," said Brauße. Loud cheers rang through the Vélodrome at the moment of victory.
Third major triumph in three months
This is the third major triumph in three months for the team, who left no doubt about their dominance in the absence of the injured Lisa Klein. In Tokyo, they beat Great Britain in the final, and at the European Championships in Grenchen, Switzerland, the Italians were also their opponents in the final. "What we've already achieved this year should give us a boost. We don't have the pressure of having to deliver," said Brennauer beforehand.
This applies to the 33-year-old from the Allgäu in a very special way. Where Brennauer is involved in 2021, it usually ends very successfully: In addition to the three titles with the foursome in the team pursuit and an individual European Championship title, she also took the rainbow jersey at the Road World Championships - there in the mixed time trial. Together with Kröger, who emphasised: "When you're an Olympic and European champion, you also have the goal of getting the stripes." She has now achieved this in impressive style.
Hinze and Friedrich with next medal chances
Defending champion Emma Hinze and her team-mate Lea Sophie Friedrich could ensure that the gold series continues on the third day of competition in the sprint on Friday evening (from 18:25/Eurosport). The duo cleared the first hurdles in qualifying, the round of 16 and the quarter-finals with ease the day after winning the team sprint title. It was a different story for team-mate Pauline Grabosch, who lost both rounds of her quarter-final duel with Canada's Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell.
After their bronze medal coup the day before, the men were left without a medal this time. Stefan Bötticher failed to make it into the final of the top six in the keirin and had to settle for seventh place overall after the small final in the evening. In the scratch race, Tim Torn Teutenberg had no chance against the victory of local hero Donavan Grondin. The men's track cycling foursome had already been eliminated in qualifying. The final race was won by Italy with road cycling pro Filippo Ganna against France.
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