“I seriously thought I was fourth. And I would have been happy with the fourth. But then I saw the scoreboard jump to the photo finish.”

This photo finish showed that it was not Mathilde Gros who had previously won the sprint in front of a home crowd at this Track Cycling World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, but Steffie van der Peet from The Hague who had crossed the line on the third place in the final of the keirin.

As in the previous year, gold went to the German Lea Sophie Friedrich in Roubaix, silver to the Japanese Mina Sato as in the previous year. Shanne Braspennincx, Olympic champion at the Tokyo Games and almost impossible to keep up all day, ended up sixth.

Check out Steffie van der Peet’s reaction below after her Bronze race on the Keirin.

Van der Peet’s day couldn’t go wrong after reaching her first major international final. She had to fight for that. Van der Peet only secured a spot in the quarterfinals after a second round of chances, qualifying for the semifinals fourth and last in their run.

In it she made it to second place, partly at the expense of crowd favorite Marie Divine Kouamé.

Braspennincx: “Had the legs to win”

In the final she faced the leader of the Dutch sprint team, Shanne Braspennincx. Tokyo’s Olympic champion at the event won all of her heats throughout the day, including an exceptionally strong semi-final.

However, she was given start number one for the final, which meant she had to start from the awkward first position behind the derny – equalized at the beginning by her friend Jeffrey Hoogland.

Even before the bike disappeared from the track, Braspennincx was already overtaken by New Zealander Elesse Andrews and after the first corner the Olympic champion was even in last place. Whatever Braspennincx tried, she couldn’t get past her opponents on the outside after that.

“I saw them coming and I thought it was okay,” Braspennincx said of the remarkable start to their final. “I don’t want to drill three rounds myself. After one and a half laps I still thought: This will be it. But then you have to be very strong to avoid it. I already had my legs today.”

See Shanne Braspennincx’s reaction below after the final of the keirin at the Track Cycling World Championships.

Van der Peet chose the opposite tactic. The 23-year-old from The Hague drove determinedly forward after the Derny had left the track, then opted for Friedrich’s bike and didn’t let go of this bike.

Hengeveld shines after fifth place in the points race

A Dutchman also beamed in the points race, but without a medal around his neck. 19-year-old World Cup debutant Daniek Hengeveld made a serious attempt at the podium in the points race but ended up fifth.

The women she’s had to let go are all among the best in the world, and not just in track cycling. Three quarters into the race, Hengeveld bravely joined a group that included American Jennifer Valente – Omnium World Champion earlier this week – and Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky – winner of the Strade Bianche, the Ronde van Vlaanderen and also only World Champion at Saturday’s Madison – Pacemaker . .

“I’m not a top sprinter and I don’t have to rely on my top speed. I also noticed that I was a bit lighter than the others,” said Hengeveld afterwards. “During the first two sprints I was at ‘cadence 120’ (120 revolutions per minute, editor’s note). Then I thought: ‘This will be a very long finale.'”

Check out Daniek Hengeveld’s reaction to her fifth place finish below:

“I attacked a bit too fanatically,” continued Hengeveld. “The lactate was really behind my ears. But then I saw Lotte Kopecky and Silvia Zanardi coming and I knew: They’re going with me. I just keep going and going. I think I finished fifth, but I’m just super proud.”

In the end, Valente and Kopecky also missed out on the world title. That went to the British Neah Evans. The Dane Julie Leth was second, Valente third. Finally with a broad grin: “I’m 19. Compared to Kirsten (Wild, editor’s note) I still have twenty years ahead of me. I really enjoyed it.”