Italy’s first surname

Italy’s Martina Fidanza’s victory in the women’s race, the first of 22 events in the programme, launched the Track Cycling World Championships at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Wednesday, a rehearsal before the 2024 Olympics at the same velodrome. The world title holder, Fidanza, daughter of former professional racer Giovanni Fidanza, did it again by attacking in the last 40 laps (10 km). She won clearly, ahead of Dutchman Mike van der Doyen, who finished second last year at the World Championships in Roubaix, and Britain’s Jessica Roberts. French film Jade Labastugue, at only 19 years old, took 14th place.

There were two other finals on the program for the first day on Wednesday night: the women’s team race and the men’s team where the Blues are the vice world champions. They finished third in the qualifiers behind Australia and the Netherlands, and easily qualified for the rest. In the afternoon, the two French pursuit teams, men and women, negotiated their first good outing, and finished third in the qualifiers.

After two seasons disturbed by the health crisis, which led to the cancellation of most competitions, these worlds are signaling a return to normal with a mass attendance of Australians and New Zealanders in particular. Among the headlines, we find Filippo Ganna, who leads the Italian team after setting, on Saturday evening in Switzerland, the new record for the hour, by covering 56,792 kilometers on the Granges track. Dutch track star Harry Lafrisen also joined after winning two Olympic titles and nine world titles, including two last year’s world championships in Roubaix, already in France.