Daily Times

GLASGOW: Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen maintained his stranglehold on track cycling’s sprint discipline as he made it five world titles in succession in the individual event on Monday. The 26-year-old Olympic champion was in a league of his own again, comfortably beating Trinidad and Tobago’s Paul Nicholas to claim his second gold of this year’s UCI World Championships. Having powered the Dutch to team sprint gold earlier in the meet and, with the keirin to come on Tuesday, he could leave Glasgow having matched the record 14 world titles of French sprint king Arnaud Tournant.

Host nation Britain also enjoyed another impressive day at the Chris Hoy Velodrome to top the medals table. Elinor Barker, who returned to the track this year after having a baby, claimed her second medal of the championships as she joined Neah Evans to win a typically chaotic Madison race. Australia were runners-up with France third. Earlier, Ethan Vernon picked himself up off the boards after a crash to win the elimination race meaning Britain’s Olympic squad top the medals table with four golds, two silvers and a bronze with two days of track action remaining.

Sheer domination: While Britain’s team is sending out a powerful statement of intent ahead of next year’s Olympics, for sheer domination of a sport Lavreysen is reaching the kind of levels that golfer Tiger Woods or tennis player Roger Federer used to enjoy. In the last six editions of the track world championships he has won 13 of the 17 gold medals on offer in sprint, team sprint and keirin and that could rise to 14 of 18 on Tuesday. He has won five sprint titles in a row, five of the last six in team sprint and three of the last three in keirin. But his appetite remains insatiable and woe betide any rider hoping to find a way to stop him as the Paris Games looms.