Host Colombia added one more gold medal to bring her tally to four in the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling Nations Cup at the Alcides Nieto Patiño Velodrome in Cali; while Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago achieved his second victory of the competition by triumphing in the keirin.
The latest success for Colombia, after two golds on the first day and another on the second day, was courtesy of Martha Bayona Pineda in the 500-meter time trial (33.233 seconds), who thus achieved her second crown in the fight after her victory. in the women’s sprint on Friday.
The second fastest in the 500 meters was the French Mathilde Gros and the Polish Nikola Sibiak in bronze. The Colombian cyclist Bayona now tops the ranking of this event in the World Cup, as she also prevailed at the Saint Petersburg stop, in Russia, in July.
In the first race on Saturday, Daniel Crista achieved Romania’s first victory in the men’s individual pursuit with 4 minutes and 25.712 seconds, escorted by Colombians Bryan Steven Gómez Peñaloza (4: 28.598), and Julián Osorio Henao (4: 28.703) , silver and bronze, respectively.
Men’s Madison saw Kenny de Ketele and Tuur Dens take Belgium’s first victory in Cali, as they secured points in all 20 sprints and also went around the field to finish in 89.
The silver rivals were Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal and Jordan Arley Parra Arias, from Colombia, who added 68 points; while Chileans Antonio Cabrera Torres and Felipe Peñaloza Yañez finished in bronze with 40 units.
Ukraine’s Andrii Hanzin and Mykyta Yakovlev lost a podium position by just one point, but continue to lead the overall ranking as the only country to appear in all three events of this year’s UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup.
In the penultimate race of the penultimate day in Cali, Trinidadian Nicholas Paul followed his good step in the tournament, dominating the keirin after winning the kilometer against the clock. In a dramatic six-lap finish to the race, Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro and Santiago Ramírez Morales finished second and third, respectively.
Paul secured Trinidad and Tobago’s third gold in Cali, second only to the hosts, after compatriot Akil Campbell won the men’s elimination on Saturday.
The final race of the day was the conclusion of the women’s omnium, in which Daria Pikulik of Poland led the points race with 31 to clinch gold with 147 points overall.
Pikulik had dominated the action earlier in the day, leading the standings after scratch, tempo and elimination races before finally taking home the first gold of his country’s competition, after four silvers in the first two days.
Second place went to Ukrainian Tetyana Klimchenko with 118 points after a good performance in the last race, with Lina Marcela Hernández Gómez from Colombia forced to take third place with 116.
The final competition of the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup season comes to a close this Sunday, with medals to be decided in the women’s madison and keirin and the men’s sprint and omnium.