Harrie Lavreysen after new World Cup hat-trick: “Super happy with it”
Sunday 24 October 2021 at 19:35
Harrie Lavreysen can once again call himself the hat-trick hero of the World Track Cycling World Championship. De Brabander crowned himself world champion in the team sprint, the keirin and the individual sprint this week in Roubaix. “I am very happy how this week went,” he tells the US.
“Just like last year in Berlin, a hat trick. I am very happy with that,” said Lavreysen, who settled with fellow countryman Jeffrey Hoogland in the final of the sprint tournament. According to the gold winner, this mutual competition is also the reason for his success. “I think we have a very good and broad team in the Netherlands. That says something about the whole team, not just me or Jeffrey.”
The year 2021 can no longer go wrong for Lavreysen, who grabbed several gold medals at the Olympic Games, the European Championship and the World Cup. “It is unimaginable. That is unimaginable. The Olympics were really the main goal this year. The fact that I have won two golds there is, in my opinion, many times greater than that I have won three golds here. This is nice with it,” he says.
photo: Color Vos
Hoogland had to settle for silver on the final day of the World Cup. In two heats Lavreysen was too strong, and Hoogland resigned himself to that. “What we show is very special and very good. My legs really feel like hell”, he laughs. “I knew in the semi-final that I had to win the decider (the third heat against Stefan Bötticher, red), otherwise I would be fourth. But it was a beautiful week.”
UCI Track Champions League
The World Cup is over, but the season is not yet ready for the Dutch ruffs. “We need rest now. But we’re going to ride the UCI Track Champions League, which starts in two weeks. That will look very different, and after that it will be a real holiday”, says Lavreysen. Hoogland approaches it in its own way. “I’m going there from Spain. I also want to find out what the Champions League is exactly, but it’s still fun to do.”
The first round of the UCI Track Champions League starts on November 6 in Mallorca. This is followed by matches in Panevézys (Lithuania, November 27), London (United Kingdom, December 3-4) and Tel Aviv (Israel, December 11).
