The Germans were the fastest to take the world title in women’s team speed on Wednesday evening at the Roubaix velodrome, run for the first time by three competitors, with a world record in the process.
Until now, team speed has been contested at the Worlds (and the Olympics) by two runners over the distance of two laps.
Parity requires, the men’s and women’s versions of team speed are run over the same distance of 750 meters.
The Germans broke three times the world record set by the Dutch (46 sec 551) on October 5 at the European Championships, their best time being set at 46 sec 064.
In the final, Pauline Grabosch (23), Lea Sophie Friedrich (21) and Emma Hinze (24) dominated the Russian trio formed by Nataliia Antonova, the fastest in the tournament on the first lap, Daria Shmeleva and Yana Tyshchenko.
The Netherlands, who had won the continental title in Granges (Switzerland), skipped the event at the Worlds.
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