Good morning and welcome to live coverage from day two of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic track cycling events, including the women's team pursuit and men's team sprint finals
Alex Ballinger here, digital news editor for Cycling Weekly, bringing you live updates from the second day of track racing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Today I will be live blogging from the iconic Herne Hill Velodrome in south London, which has been home to some of the biggest names in cycling, including Ethan Hayter, who is currently competing in Tokyo as part of the men's team pursuit squad.
Here is the schedule of events this morning:
Tuesday, August 3, 3.30pm - 6.10pm Japan/7.30am - 10.10am UK
Women's Team Pursuit First round
Men's Team Sprint Qualifying
Men's Team Pursuit First round
Men's Team Sprint First round
Women's Team Pursuit Finals
Men's Team Sprint Finals
Women's Team Pursuit Victory Ceremony
Men's Team Sprint Victory Ceremony
Big news already this morning for Team GB, as team pursuiter Ed Clancy has been forced to withdraw from the games due to back problems.
This also makes the end of Clancy's career as an Olympian.
(Image credit: Barrington Coombs/Getty Images for British Olympic Association)
The first competition up tonight is the first round of the team pursuit. This morning, two teams will go head-to-head on the track, to decide which medal they will compete for.
Team GB are just about to hit the track now in their ride against the USA. The winner of this event will make it through to the gold medal ride.
Katie Archibald pulling off the line for GB, and it's a great start, they're .3 of a second up on the US early.
US have now pulled ahead after 600m, the gap is .3 of a second. Now up to .5
USA continue to lead by almost a second after 1km, but Team GB are starting to pull it back now. The gap is down to .4 after 2,000m.
Team GB back in the lead now! Katie Archibald doing an absolutely massive turn here, but it's insanely close. The gap is .132
USA pulling it back slightly after 2,800m, GB down to three riders as they continue to lead. This is so so close
GB pulling out the lead with Katie Archibald back on the front. Gap is now half a second after 3600m.
Chloe Dygert on the front for the USA.
Half a lap to go and its Archibald vs Dygert, but Team GB are still and front and BOOM it's done! Team GB qualify for the gold medal race with a new world record!
Oh no we've had a crash after the finish!
Katie Archibald was talking on her slow down lap and went straight into the back of Neah Evans. They both look okay, no serious injuries luckily.
Absolutely rapid time by GB, 4-06.748, a new world record, beating the time of 4-10.236 set by Germany yesterday.
They beat the USA who had a time of 4-07.579.
This is the decisive race for Team GB now, Germany vs Italy in the women's team pursuit.
The winner of this ride will go through to the gold medal final against Team GB.
Germany are the clear favourites here after their blistering times yesterday.
Italy are slightly up after the first lap by .3 of a second, but as we saw with Team GB in the last race Germany will be likely to close that gap down later into the race.
Germany have just pulled ahead in this women's team pursuit race against Italy.
They're .370 of a second up on their rivals after 1800m. They're extending the gap and looking very comfortable.
Ah it's all gone wrong for Italy. They're down to three riders early and the gap is now 1.8 seconds.
Looks like Germany have this wrapped up with 1,000m to go.
Last lap and Germany have pulled out a huge gap now, almost three seconds.
It's done, Germany win! That puts them through to the gold medal in the women's team pursuit final against Team GB later today.
It's another world record as well, Germany have just nicked the WR set by Team GB about five minutes ago.
It's a 4-06.166, beating Team GB's world record of 4-06.748.
We're onto the qualifying round for the men's team pursuit now, Netherlands are currently the fastest team with a new Olympic record of 42.134, followed by Australia with a 42.371.
New Zealand are currently on the track, but they've only managed the fourth fastest time with a 43.066.
Team GB on track now, with Ryan Owens, Jack Carlin and Jason Kenny.
Lively atmosphere here at Herne Hill Velodrome, as Team GB are up on the Netherlands after the first lap.
GB still quickest as Jason Kenny hits out for his final lap but he slipped back slightly. It's still a very good time for Kenny and GB with a 42.231, a fraction slower than the Dutch Olympic record of 42.134.
That's the qualifying done for the men's team sprint.
Here's the rankings:
1. Netherlands, 42.143
2. Great Britain, 42.231
3. Australia, 42.371
4. France, 43.722
5. New Zealand, 43.066
6. ROC, 43.097
7. Germany, 43.140
8. Poland, 43.516
Next up it's the men's team pursuit round one,
Germany vs Canada is first up, and Germany have taken the early lead after 250m.
Canada are currently leading by .8 of a second after 1,000m and they're continuing to extend their advantage.
Canada are pulling out a big gap now, it's above a second at the halfway point and it's too much for Germany to pull back now.
Canada win their first round race against Germany in the men's team pursuit by a big margin.
It's a 3-46.769 for Canada, beating Germany with a 3-48.861
Next up in the men's team pursuit it's Switzerland vs Australia.
Australia had a nightmare yesterday, when one of their riders crashed mid run when their aero bars snapped. The Aussies were allowed to ride again but had to settle fo a disappointing time.
It's looking better for Australia today as they lead after 500m.
Australia are more than two seconds up on Switzerland after 1,000m, they're storming through this run.
It looks like the Aussies want to catch Switzerland and get in the slipstream to help them get rapid time.
Just over half way and Australia are a quarter of a lap behind the Swiss team.
New Olympic record for Australia and applause here for the team at Herne Hill Velodrome.
That s a time of 3-44.902 for the Australians, which is a solid time as they hope for a chance at the bronze medal.
Switzerland with a time of 3-49.111.
Now this next head is a fascinating one, Italy vs New Zealand in the men's team pursuit first round.
This Italian squad features Filippo Ganna, who had a lot left over at the finish after the qualifying round.
Italy are up after 1,000m but it's close. There's 0.09 in it
New Zealand have pulled ahead!
This is a huge battle as the winner of this heat will go through to the gold medal race in the men's team pursuit.
New Zealand might have this won!
Last lap and Italy trail by 0.06
Wow now that was a race, absolutely rapid as Italy take the victory with a new world record!
New Zealand led for most of that heat, but Filippo Ganna hit the front and completely flipped the tables for Italy
It's a 3-42.307 world record for Italy, who now go through to the gold medal final.
Next up it's the final heat, Team GB vs Denmark, with the winner going up against Italy in the gold medal final tomorrow.
Here we go this is the big one, a lot of excitement here at Herne Hill Velodrome, where Ethan Hayter kicked off his cycling career.
Denmark vs GB in the men's team pursuit is under way.
Denmark are up after half a lap.
All cheers here at Herne Hill for GB, as Denmark are now trailing by 0.3 of a second.
Denmark pulling it back slightly and are now a fraction again after 1,300m
Denmark starting to pull ahead now, they're .9 up at the halfway mark.
Denmark have really pulled ahead now, they're more than two seconds up on Team GB now.
One of the Team GB riders has become detached from the back of the unit into the final lap but woah more drama, there's been a crash out on the course.
The Danish train have just ploughed into the back of the Team GB rider who was trailing off the back.
So it looks like what has happened:
Charlie Tanfield was dropped by the two riders in the Team GB unit into the final and lost a lot of ground.
Meanwhile the Denmark train was flying around the track and caught Tanfield, but the leading Danish rider wasn't looking ahead and ploughed back into the back of Tanfield.
The two Danish riders behind were able to avoid the crash, but it's a bizarre incident. It's not actually clear what happens now, but we've moved onto the men's team sprint.
Here's some thoughts from Cycling Weekly columnist Dr Hutch on that incident in the men's team pursuit between Denmark and Team GB.
Denmark crash into a dropped rider from GB -- weird, weird crash. DEN rider just not looking where he was going and hitting (I think) Tanfield. #Tokyo2020August 3, 2021
Never seen anything like that -- I'd assume DEN will be DQ'd, because it was dangerous riding.August 3, 2021
In the first heat for round one of the men's team sprint, France have just beaten New Zealand with a time of 42.294.
Onto the second heat and it's Australia vs ROC and Australia have taken the win with a new Olympic record of 42.103.
Here's how round one works in the men's team sprint:
The fastest two winning teams race for the gold and silver medals, and the other two winning teams race for the bronze medal. The four losing teams dispute the finals for 5th to 6th places, and 7th to 8th places, based on their times from the first round.
Germany vs GB is the next men's team sprint race on the boards. And they're away.
GB are slightly ahead on the first lap, and again still ahead on the second lap! Jason Kenny hits the final lap and BOOM he wins!
It's a new Olympic medal and big applause for the Brit here in the cafe at Herne Hill Velodrome.
It's a 41.829 for Team GB and Kenny, putting them in good position to make it through to the gold medal finals.
Netherlands vs Poland now in the last of the men's team sprint heats.
Netherland are up at the first lap and they're extending their advantage over the second lap.
Into the final and the Dutch rider is flying across the line.
Comfortable victory for the Netherlands and ANOTHER Olympic record with a 41.431.
That means it's GB and the Netherlands who have qualified for the men's team sprint gold medal race, securing them at least a silver medal.
Now it's the big one - time for the women's team pursuit finals.
First up it's New Zealand vs France.
From PA's Ian Parker, who is out in Tokyo covering the games,
Looks like there's still no decision on the winner of Denmark vs GB in the men's team pursuit after the Danish train crashed into the back of Britain's Charlie Tanfield.
"No decision made yet" on the winner of that bizarre GB v Denmark men's team pursuit. #CyclingTrack #Tokyo2020August 3, 2021
France have just won their women's team pursuit finals against New Zealand, which means New Zealand have finished eighth, and France take seventh place.
Here's a short update on the crash in the men's team pursuit between GB and Denmark:
Now in the women's TP it's Australia vs Italy in the race for sixth and fifth place.
Australia are up by .3 after 2,000m
We have a decision from the organisers of Tokyo 2020 after the crash between the Danish and Team GB pursuit squads.
Denmark will go through to the final against Italy.
Men's Team Pursuit First Round ✅It will be Italy vs Denmark for the GOLD 🥇#Tokyo2020 | #Olympics | #CyclingTrackAugust 3, 2021
Meanwhile Australia have won their race against Italy in the women's TP to take fifth place, Italy finish sixth.
Now it's Canada vs USA for the bronze medal.
USA are pulling ahead in the bronze medal race against Canada, 1s up after 1,300m.
Canada are pulling it back however, USA have .6 of a second half way.
And USA have done it, they take the bronze medal in the women's team pursuit finals. They dominated that race over Canada, taking control early and keeping it, even after losing a bit of time in the middle section of the race.
Now it's the gold medal final in the women's team pursuit, between Germany and GB!
More confirmation from British Cycling that Denmark progress through to the men's TP final after the crash with Team GB.
Well, that was... eventful!Denmark advance to the gold medal final in the men's team pursuit.We're incredibly proud of our team and their performance over the competition 🇬🇧👏@ethan_hayter @EthanVernon22 @olliewood95 @CharlieTanfield @Ed_Clancy #Tokyo2020#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/OUW4fe0gbeAugust 3, 2021
Back to the women's TP final between GB and Germany and they're out of the gate. Katie Archibald leads for GB and they're .2 up after the start.
Gemany are back ahead now after 600m by 0.5 of a second.
GB are now 1.3 down after 1,000m. It's a big margin for Germany who have gone out rapidly at the start.
The gap continues to grow to 1.6 after 1,500m.
Germany continue to extend the lead to 1.8, now out to 2 seconds at the halfway mark.
Storming ride by Germany so far.
We're into the final 1,000m of the women's TP final and Germany are leading by a big margin, three seconds.
Germany are very quickly catching GB, both teams on the same straight now with 500m to go.
It's gold for Germany with an unbelievable time, a new world record of 4-04.249.
Team GB had no chance there, putting out a 4-10.607.
Gold medal for Germany in the women's team pursuit and silver for Team GB squad.
No time to rest as we're now into the men's team sprint finals, as New Zealand and Poland go head-to-head for eight and seventh places.
New Zealand take the win to finish seventh in the Olympic men's team sprint with a 43.703
Poland finish eighth.
Next up we have the Russian Olympic Committee vs Germany for fifth and sixth place in the men's team sprint finals.
Looks like we have an issue out on the track so it's a restart.
After a second false start in ROC vs Germany, they've now skipped that race and we're onto Australia vs France for the bronze medal rides in the men's team sprint.
Australia got the better start out of the gate and are ahead after one lap, but it's very close.
France now pulling ahead on the second lap however and it's France who take the bronze medal!
They finish with a time of 42.33.
Here's the full story on the women's team pursuit finals:
Time for the gold medal final now in the men's team sprint, between the Netherlands and Team GB.
For GB it's Ryan Owens, Jack Carlin and Jason Kenny as the last man.
Netherlands got the better start but it's so so close.
Kenny looks like he's slipped back however, he's lost contact and is dropped by his team, leaving the Netherlands to blast into gold with a new Olympic record.
It's another silver medal for Team GB.
It's another Olympic record for the Netherlands with their time of 41.369.
After Jason Kenny was dropped GB finished with a time of 44.589.
That's the end of racing from today's event.
Two sets of medals handed out in the women's team pursuit and the men's team sprint.
Silver for GB in both events.
Here is the round-up from day two of the Tokyo 2020 track events, including a round-up of medals:
Next it's the final for fifth and sixth place in the men's team pursuit.
It's Canada vs Germany and Canada are dominating early on. They're down to three riders early but they're still flying. Canada finish fifth, setting a time of 3-46.324 with Germany finishing sixth.
Now it's onto the bronze medal race, Australia vs New Zealand.
It's close after 500m as the Australian's lead by just 0.018.
Wow the gap is just 0.001 after 1,000m. New Zealand just steal the lead after 1km.
The Kiwi's are pulling out a bit of a gap now, but the Austrlians have actually just taken the lead again. Now the Kiwi's lead by .005, this is an insanely close race for third place in the men's team pursuit.
Australia trail by four hundredths of a second with 2km still to race.
And no we've had a huge crash!
A crash for the Kiwi team as they're now down to three riders and their third rider has lost contact as a result of the crash.
Australia are running away with this now! Unbelievable drama in the men's team pursuit bronze medal race.
Australia have caught the trailing New Zealand rider and that's race over!
The Aussies take bronze in the men's team pursuit final.
It was such a close race until that crash.
We've now seen the replay and the final rider in the New Zealand train slightly overlapped wheels with the rider in front and lost control, falling up the track. Heartbreaking for the Kiwi squad.
Time for the big one - the men's team pursuit gold medal final. It's Italy vs Denmark.
Italy have star rider Filippo Ganna in their roster, while Denmark are strong across the board and have the best aero game in the business.
They're away and Denmark led by the narrowest margin after 250m. But Italy have just pulled it back and lead by .3 of a second.
After 1,000m Italy still lead by three 10ths of a second, but Denmark have pulled back a 10th.
This is going to be close, is a new world record on the cards?
Italy are still the leaders but they have just one tenth of a second with 2,000m still to ride.
Don't forget Italy hold the world record of 3-42.307 after their ride yesterday.
Denmark have come back and are now in the lead with 1,000m to the line.
Italy are half a second down, can Ganna pull it back in the final kilometre like he did yesterday?
Just 500m left and Denmark lead by .6 of a second.
Final lap and Italy have just .2 seconds to make up it's so close!
IT'S ITALY! What a ride, that was absolutely phenomenal.
Once again Filippo Ganna pulls back the advantage in the final lap to break the hearts of their rivals.
It's a new world record as well! 3-42.032, beating their previous WR of 3-42.307 they set only yesterday.
Gold for Italy, silver for Denmark. Unbelievable race.
That was such a close race, Italy with a 3-42.032 and Denmark with a 3-42.198.
Filippo Ganna pulled that back in the final lap with a huge performance, absolutely thrilling stuff.
Well after all that excitement, we now have the relatively tame spectacle of some more match sprints.
This time it's the 1/16 finals, with the eight winners progressing to the next round.
First up it's Jeffrey Hoogland (Ned) vs Stefan Boetticher (Ger) and it's an easy victory for Hoogland.
Heat two in the 1/16 finals and Harrie Lavreysen from the Netherlads goes up against Jair Tjon En Fa from Suriname.
Lavreysen is controlling from the front and looks comfortable. Final lap and Lavreysen still leads and has opened up his sprint, running away with it and another comfortable qualification for the Dutch.
Heat three now and it's Team GB's Jack Carlin up against Muhammad Sahrom (Malaysia) in the men's sprint.
The winner progresses to the 1/8 finals while the lose will have another chance in the Repechages.
Sahrom leads with two laps to go, Carlin waiting behind.
Woah it's a close moment as Carlin tried to sneak down the inside and Sahrom pushed him off the track on the inside. But the Carlin avoids the collision and leads from the front to take the win.
Very tense moment.
Heat four now on the men's sprint 1/16 finals, Nicholas Paul from Trinidad and Tobego up against Azizulhasni Awang from Malaysia.
It's a tactical start with Awang holding the top of the track.
Paul sweeps on the inside and launches his sprint with a lap to go, Awang gains on the final straight but it's Paul who secures the victory.
Awang will have to race again in the Repechages.
Next up we have Nick Wammes vs Denis Dmitriev in the 1/16 finals for the men's team sprint.
Wammes is leading with three laps to go and he starts to up the pace with two laps left.
Dmitriev is trailing as Wammes goes early one the final lap, Dmitriev comes around the outside on the final turn and takes the win.
Heat six is Max Levy (Germany) vs Patryk Rajkowski (Poland).
Levy secures victory in that one and moves through to the 1/8 finals tomorrow.
Next up it's heat seven in the men's sprint 1/16 finals, Sam Webster (New Zealand) vs Sebastien Vigier (Fra).
Webster puts in a strong performance to take the win and progress.
Big one up next - home favourite Yuta Wakimoto takes on reigning champion Jason Kenny.
Wakimoto leads on the first lap but Kenny makes a cheeky manoeuvre to sneak past, Kenny ups the pace but Wakimoto gains rapidly on the final straight and almost overtakes the Brit.
But Kenny wins and is through to the 1/8 finals.
Right, we're now onto the final four sprints of the day - the men's sprint finals 1/16 Repechages.
First up it's Japan's Yuta Wakimoto vs Stefan Boetticher of Germany.
A stellar performance for Wakimoto who takes the win and moves through to the next round. It was a big effort, but we have a Japanese rider through to the 1/8 finals in the sprint.
Now for heat two in the 1/16 finals Repechages for the men, Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname) against Sebastien Vigier (France).
Vigier takes the win there to make it through.
Heat three in the men's sprint Repechages.
It's Muhammad Sahrom of Malaysia vs Patryk Rajkowski.
Bizarre start for these two are they throw their bikes into each other in the early lap. The Polish rider then loses his back wheel briefly but keeps it upright. Sahrom then swerves into Rajkowski and they make contact, Rajkowski falling in the process.
It's a very odd race.
We've now skipped over to the final Repechages in the men's sprint - Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) against Nick Wammes of Canada.
They're head-to-head in the final lap. Awang is going around the outside on the final turn and carries the speed to take the victory and progress to the next round.
We're now switching back to the race between Sahrom and Rajkowski after that really odd crash.
Looks like the riders are re-running that race.
Rajkowski is on the front as they start.
A bit of finessing and Rajkowski leads with two laps to go. He opens it up with one lap to go as Sahrom chases.
Sahrom comes over the top and overpowers the Polish rider on the final straight, taking the win and progressing .
And that brings the track competition to an end for the day.
Only one set of medals awarded today in the men's team pursuit - Italy taking gold, Denmark silver, and Australia bronze.
