A much more physical Matthew Richardson battled his way to an overall third-place finish at this weekend’s Keirin World Series event, taking place at Ito Onsen.
The world’s fastest cyclist had clearly been struggling to adapt to the combative, collaborative nature of Japanese domestic keirin, with only one win in his six rides at Kokura and Aomori. He spoke in interviews of his struggles to adapt to the format, where physical contact and blocking tactics are the norm.
A change was immediately obvious on Friday, as the British rider 5 gave as good as he got, headbutting an opponent and forcing his way several times into the tightest of gaps. UCI commissaires would have several reasons to DQ him: but the UCI has no jurisdiction here.
Richardson won his semi final on Saturday purely on power, although his swerve at the finish line would probably have earned a stiff talking-to (or worse) at a UCI event.
That put him into Sunday’s main final, where he would face Kaiya Ota 2, currently number 4 in the UCI world rankings – one place above Richardson 6. Ota positioned himself directly behind the pacer, and never surrendered first place.
Richardson kicked hard on the way into corner three, and had all the momentum into the home straight – but the finish line arrived too soon. He may have got used to the rough stuff, but he still needs to recalibrate for the additional length of the Japanese tracks.
His fellow British rider Joseph Truman 4 finished the weekend on a comfortable 5-length win, sailing past the field in the back straight; but his last-place on Saturday meant he was competing in a support race, which included three riders in their 40s, and one in his 50s.
The women’s competition, once again, was a one-two for the foreign guests. Ellesse Andrews 5 finished three-quarters of a wheel ahead of Mathilde Gros 4, making it 11 wins from her 12 starts in Japanese keirin – the only blemish being her second place behind Hetty van de Wouw.
Gros finished third in her semi final on Saturday, breaking the streak by which every race featuring a foreign woman had been won by a foreign woman.
The Keirin World Series continues next weekend at Kishiwada. It will feature the return of Harrie Lavreysen, unbeaten so far in the Series, plus Hetty van de Wouw, alongside Truman and Gros.
