PARIS, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Dutch star cyclist Harrie Lavreysen claimed his 11th UCI Track World Championships title after beating Matthew Richardson of Australia in the men's sprint final here on Sunday.
The 25-year-old world champion had already won the Keirin on Friday and pocketed silver in the team sprint on Wednesday. He continued his great form on the last day of the tournament as he had stormed into the sprint final with an overwhelming victory over Poland's Mateusz Rudyk in the semifinals.
Facing Richardson in the final, Lavreysen secured an advantage by winning the first heat by 0.155 seconds. Richardson tried to level the contest in the second round, taking the lead in the beginning, but Lavreysen remained cool, accelerating and sprinting past the Australian on the final corner to take another gold medal.
"It's amazing to win four [sprint titles] in a row," said Lavreysen. "It's hard to keep the streak going. Both [Matthew] Glaetzer and Richardson were fast on this track. But I really like this track. It's really fast. Some really quick times during the last couple of races."
In the men's Madison, the French pair of Donavan Grondin and Benjamin Thomas soared to home victory by beating their British and Belgian opponents.
"It was an incredible experience," Thomas said after the race. "We really felt the crowd, especially in the last 10 minutes. My teammate was really strong. We did the perfect race, attacking at the right moment and today was our day."
Germany's Lea Sophie Friedrich retained the title in the women's Keirin. Japan's Mina Sato took silver, and bronze went to Steffie van der Peet of the Netherlands. ■
