The World Cup on track delivers another gem for Italy: in Hong Kong, Matteo Fiorin (Solme Olmo Arvedi) has secured a splendid victory in the Elimination race, confirming himself among the brightest young talents on the international scene. The Italian managed the race with great lucidity, always staying in the leading positions and then imposing himself in the final sprint, where he got the better of the highly-regarded New Zealander Thomas Sexton. Third place went to Dutch rider Yoeri Havik, one of the great specialists of the world's velodromes.
For Fiorin, a significant success, achieved with authority in a context of the highest technical level.
Misfortune for the women's pursuit quartet world champions. Martina Alzini, Chiara Consonni, Martina Fidanza and Vittoria Guazzini had recorded the best time in qualifying (4'14"522). In the first round, Vittoria Guazzini's crash (various abrasions and contusions) compromised the performance against Great Britain; the time of 4'19"301 did not allow the Italian team to compete for any medal, finishing in seventh place overall. Victory went to New Zealand (4'09"834) ahead of Great Britain and France.
The men's quartet, with the unprecedented lineup of Francesco Lamon, Niccolò Galli, Christian Fantini and Etienne Grimod, fell apart in the final and finished qualifying with a time of 4'16"655, which earned them last place. Final victory went to New Zealand, which beat Denmark, with bronze to China and Great Britain in fourth.
In Team Sprint, Matteo Bianchi, Stefano Minuta and Mattia Predomo advanced through qualifying with the fifth fastest time (43"390), a result improved in the first round but which was not enough to beat Japan and reach the finals (43"123): victory went to Great Britain ahead of the Netherlands, France and Japan. In the women's Elimination, Chiara Consonni finished 13th in the race won by Norwegian Stenberg ahead of Hong Kong's Lee and France's Fortin.