World champion Harrie Lavreysen decisively reclaimed the top step of the podium as the UCI’s 2026 Track World Cup resumed in Hong Kong.

He powered to victory with a lead of more than a third of a second – a lot by elite standards – to Kaiya Ota in second, and Shinji Nakano just behind in third. Indeed, the gap back to the Japanese riders was so great, they aren’t even visible in the finish-line camera’s photo.

France’s Tom Derache, winner of the day’s most eventful race, was fourth, ahead of hometown hero Cheuk Hei To and Zhiwei Li.

Like many of the top riders, Lavreysen had opted out of the competition’s first round, a month ago. The winner in Perth, Malaysian superstar Azizulhasni Awang was absent from Hong Kong; he is putting everything into an emotional home farewell event in Nilai next week.

Missing from the final was the Dutchman’s main rival of recent seasons, Matthew Richardson: he had only managed fourth place in his semi final, putting him in a stellar minor final which featured four of the current top five in the UCI’s world sprint rankings.