The German women’s team sprinters have won the bronze medal at the start of the Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai. Clara Schneider, Lea Sophie Friedrich and Pauline Grabosch won the third-place play-off in 46.276 seconds against the Russian team, which has been readmitted as a neutral team. Gold went to China (45.578), who beat Great Britain (45.933) in the final.
Between 2020 and 2023, Grabosch, Friedrich and Emma Hinze had won World Championship gold four times in a row. Over the past two years, the German team – with a line-up that had changed significantly in some cases – had come away empty-handed. Hinze became a mother to a son this year and intends to make her comeback at the European Championships on home soil in Berlin next February.
There was disappointment for the German men’s team in the team sprint. Henric Hackmann, Nik Schröter and Luca Spiegel were eliminated in ninth place in the qualifying round, thereby missing out on vital points in the race for Olympic qualification. Once again, the Dutch team led by superstar Harrie Lavreysen proved unbeatable; Lavreysen secured his 21st world title, further extending his record.
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