March 1, 2018, Apeldoorn, Netherlands- The Women’s Team Pursuit Team, comprised of Kelly Catlin (Rally Cycling; Arden Hills, Minn.), Chloe Dygert-Owen (Sho-Air TWENTY20; Port Orchard, Wash.), Kim Geist (Allentown, Penn.), and Jennifer Valente (Sho-Air TWENTY20; San Diego, Calif.), won the third consecutive world title for the United States against Great Britain with a time of 4.15.669.
“We set the trajectory and we're going to follow it all the way to Tokyo,” Valente said of their victory.
Teammate Geist said, “It's good momentum going into an Olympic qualifying year. Everyone feels good about this ride as we go into the next two years.”
The team came out of qualifications on Wednesday with the fastest time of 4:18.836.
During their first round against New Zealand, the quartet led from the beginning of the race, catching them with four laps to go to advance to the finals against Great Britain.
The final race was a battle of epic proportions with USA leading the first kilometer with a time of 1.08.285. In the second kilometer, Great Britain pulled ahead with a split of 2.10.539 to USA’s 2.11.430. USA picked up the pace during the second half of the race, closing out the third kilometer eight tenths of a second ahead of Great Britain. They maintained their lead, finishing the race 1.331 seconds ahead to earn the rainbow jersey.
“We were focused and executed our own plan and we are optimistic about what we can do in the future,” Catlin said after the race.
Today’s race was the first time that the US and British teams have faced off in the Team Pursuit since the 2016 Olympic games in Rio, where the US came up short in the final and placed second. “It’s great to get another world title and to finally get another one on one with the Brits after Rio,” said Dygert, “It means a lot and we’re really excited about this accomplishment.”
“This team and staff work so well together and we are off to a great start in Apeldoorn,” says Scott Schnitzspahn, Vice President of Elite Athletics for USA Cycling, “To 3-peat as world champions in the Team Pursuit was really special, especially against such great competition. These women are so strong and have worked so hard to stay on top. We aren't finished here at these worlds though, with more great performances to come.”
USA will continue to compete at the UCI Track World Championships through Sunday.
You can follow the excitement via @USACyclingLive on Twitter, and @UCI_Track and #Apeldoorn2018 on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The Olympic Channel will provide broadcast coverage. Please check your local listings for schedule details.
For more about the 2018 UCI Track World Championships, please visit the event website at https://www.wkbaanapeldoorn.nl.
For more information contact: Kelly Fox at apalermo@usacycling.org
