As the reigning Olympic champion and World Champion in the Omnium, the expectation was high and Valente came into this year’s World Championships as a favorite. She handled the pressure with grace and precision.
Taking second place in the scratch race, a win in the tempo and second in the elimination Valente was sitting comfortably in first with one race to go. The points race, the final event of the omnium saw multiple riders lap the field, Valente quickly responded and took the lap back, then marked all the remaining moves, in particular rivals Wollaston (NZL), second-placed Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) and eventual bronze medalist Lotte Kopecky (BEL)
"It was a very aggressive race, with a lot of people trying to go for laps,” said Valente after celebrating her win. “I was really trying to keep my eyes open and try to understand what was happening in the race at every moment. The Omnium is a special world title to me—it feels different from the Scratch Race earlier in the week. To back up last year was important to me and it felt really good. I was taking each race one step at a time and definitely the first three events just riding my own race. I was focusing on riding the best race possible and not worrying about what anyone else was doing and was able to put it all together at the end."
Women’s Omnium Results
Photo above UCI Track Cycling
