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Chloe Dygert breaks world record twice on way to 3,000m individual pursuit gold

  • Ron 

Day four of the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships started at a blistering pace, with a new world record set early in the Women’s Individual Pursuit by Team USA’s Chloe Dygert (Brownsburg, Ind.; Sho-Air TWENTY20). She went on to set the world record again during her gold medal ride, adding her tenth world rainbow jersey to her collection.

Team pursuit teammate Emma White (Duanseburg, N.Y.; Rally UHC Pro Cycling) took sixth in individual pursui and Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling) had his best performance yet at the world championships, placing seventh in the Men’s Omnium. Madison partners Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Sho-Air TWENTY20) and Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Rally UHC Pro Cycling) finished ninth after an incident during the event.

Dygert had not raced the individual pursuit since she won the world title in 2018. Seeded in the first heat, she overtook her heat partner in the first half of her race, and then attempted to go a second time, but coach Garry Sutton cautioned her to reserve her energy. Despite that Dygert would go on to set a new world record in a time of 3 minutes and 17.283 seconds.

“This morning’s ride felt really good. Gary had me pull back a bit with 3 laps to go, in order to save energy for tonight. The schedule that what I was on would have given me a time of 3:19, but because the track conditions are so good, I just kept going. Going into tonight, I think I can break the record again.”

Dygert went up against Germany’s Lisa Brennauer in the gold medal ride. With a solid start, she dominated in the match up through the entire heat, coming within 150-meters of catching her opponent. She would stop the clock for her second ride at 3:16.937

Riding an individual track event on the international stage for only the second time in her career, Emma White came out swinging, stopping the clock at 3:25.667. She maintained the second position behind teammate Dygert through the first 5 heats of the event. White’s time would have qualified her for the gold medal ride at the 2019 Track World Championships. In the end she placed sixth overall.

“This event really gave me confidence that I’m where I need to be fitness wise heading into the summer,” White said about her ride. “I have improved so much in the last two years on the track and sometimes that’s difficult to see so having this time in this event is very rewarding.”

Coming into the Men’s Omnium with a bronze under his belt from the last UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Hoover made a strong showing at his first World Championship in the event. Hoover raced the scratch race like a man on a mission, never leaving the front 10 riders. He ultimately ended up in a 4-wide sprint for places 5- 8 and be edged out for 8th. In the next event, the tempo race, the 22-year old missed the chance to lap the field with four other riders, but rode to the front on 2 laps, awarding him sixth place. Hoover rode a smart race in the next event, the elimination race, playing cat-and-mouse with the tail end of the race, but never being. On the 14th pull, it he was called to exit the race, placing him tenth in the elimination. In the final race of the event, the points race, Hoover started with 78 points, part of a tight bunch of riders all within 10 points. Hoover would defend his position through the event, and after gaining four points through 10 sprints, finished in seventh place.

“I’m extremely happy with seventh today. I surprised myself consistently over the day, and walked away from the last race with a result I’m extremely proud of,” Hoover said about his racing today. “It’s hard not to want more after the fact, but I’m very pleased with how I raced and where I ended up.”

The final event for Team USA on Saturday was the Women’s Madison. Valente and Jastrab had a good start to the race, active at the front, trying to attack the dominate Dutch team. They garnered points in two sprints, at 80- and 50-laps to go, before a British rider tried and split their exchange and take down all three riders. Valente and Jastrab would recover, but missed the next round of points. The team got back in the mix, keeping up with the smaller field and ended up placing ninth with 2 points.

On Sunday Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo.) kicks the day off for Team USA, racing the Women’s Keirin, the event she received the bronze in at the Milton World Cup. Valente takes on her final event with the Women’s Points Race. And Adrian Hegyvary (Asheville, N.C.; Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team and Daniel Holloway (Boulder, Colo.; Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) team up for the Men’s Madison to close out the championships for USA Cycling.

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