After a sub-par afternoon, Harrie Lavreysen returned to familar form as the world keirin championship event reached the semi-final stage in Santiago on Thursday evening.

The Dutchman had needed a repechage to get through the first round, and was only third in his quarter-final. But with a few hours to recover and rediscover his normal form, he was typically dominant, claiming his customary victory in a semi-final featuring four of the world’s top ten.

Meanwhile, Mikhail Yakovlev claimed a third successive win of the day in the second semi, taking the lead as Dakin’s early attack faded, with Jeffrey Hoogland following close behind, and Kaiya Ota pouncing late to claim the third qualifying spot.

As the derny exited, Hoffman eased from second to first position ahead of Quintero. Lavreysen surged to the front with two laps remaining, leaving Quintero boxed on the inside, but the Colombian knew he only needed to finish third – which meant staying ahead of Paul alongside him, and Danylchuk behind. As the line approached, Paul seemed to accept his fate. But Kiriltsev, stuck at the back, gave it everything: the Individual Neutral Athlete seemed to lose his balance out of the final corner, and fell without making obvious contact with another rider. Lavreysen took the win, ahead of Quintero and Hoffman, with a gap to Danylchuk in fourth.

Dakin risked everything as the derny left the track, opening up a lead. But with a lap and a half left, his lead was gone: Yakovlev surged from the back to the front, bringing Hoogland in his wake, and the pair went clear. Dakin held the inside line, but he was clearly tiring, and obstructing those behind him. Ota came over the top, and managed to catch the two in front. They were side by side at the line, with Yakovlev claiming his third victory of the day. Derache led the rest home, with several bike-lengths of a gap.