The women’s keirin final at the Track World Championships will feature two riders each from Great Britain, Japan and the Netherlands.
Katy Marchant made it three wins out of three so far today with another decisive ride in the first semi-final, with Steffie van der Peet second. In the second semi, Emma Finucane‘s winning run came to an end, but she was safe in second behind Hetty van de Wouw with no reason to press on.
For Japan, Mina Sato claimed third ahead of Martha Bayona in a photo finish; Fuko Umekawa‘s third place in the second semi was safer.
Tempting as it may be to work together in the final for the best result, UCI rules are clear: ‘Riders shall refrain from any collusion, manoeuvre or movement likely to hinder the conduct or distort the result of the race. In the case of collusion between riders, the commissaires may disqualify the riders concerned.’
Semi-final 1
| ✅ | Marchant | GBR 🇬🇧 |
| ✅ | van der Peet | NED 🇳🇱 |
| ✅ | Sato | JPN 🇯🇵 |
| 4 | Bayona | COL 🇨🇴 |
| 5 | Wang | CHN 🇨🇳 |
| 6 | Yeung | HKG 🇭🇰 |
Sato comes over the top with two laps to go, prompting a response from Marchant. Bayona senses danger and comes over the top. Van der Peet is stuck on the inside in fourth; but a gap opens up in front of Sato, and the Dutch rider pounces to claim second behind Marchant. Bayona, forced wide, misses out in the photo, with Wang another half-wheel behind.
Semi-final 2
| ✅ | van de Wouw | NED 🇳🇱 |
| ✅ | Finucane | GBR 🇬🇧 |
| ✅ | Umekawa | JPN 🇯🇵 |
| 4 | Vece | ITA 🇮🇹 |
| 5 | Mohd Asri | MAS 🇲🇾 |
| 6 | McCaig | AUS 🇦🇺 |
Van de Wouw leads the attack into the last lap, with Finucane following behind. Vece is in fifth, sitting comfortably on Finucane’s wheel. But the Italian hesitates into corner three, with Umekawa surging from behind. There’s clear air between the front three who will fight for medals, and the back three headed for the B final.