Russia won the women’s team sprint title, while Germany beat France to win the men’s team sprint. Great Britain continued to dominate the team pursuit events; the men’s quartet beat Russia in a close final, while the Great Britain women’s team set a new world record in both the qualifying and final rides in one of the first ever major championships with women racing over a distance of 4000 meters and with four riders.
Elinor Barker, Dani King, Joanna Rowsell, Katie Archibald and Laura Trott smashed their own world time of 4:28.738 seconds for the new 4000m distance. With King replacing Rowsell for the final, the Great Britain team then posted an even faster time of 4:26.453. The second-placed Polish team finished more than nine-seconds behind.
With all five riders having contributed to the team’s performance, Barker, King, Rowsell, Trott and Archibald were all presented with a European champion’s jersey and medal.
In the men’s team pursuit, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke, Owain Doull and Andy Tennant recorded a time of 4:02.258 to earn them both the gold medal and the European champions’ jerseys. Russia put up a fight, finishing just 0.2 of second slower in the final. The Netherlands took the bronze beating Spain in their ride-off.
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