Nicola Rutzou
The Australian track cycling team has come away from the 2025 UCI Track World Championships held in Santiago, Chile, with two silver and three bronze medals.
The ARA Australian Cycling Team secured a bronze medal in the women’s team sprint for the second consecutive year at the 2025 UCI Track World Championships in Santiago.
The women’s sprint team of Alessia McCaig, Molly McGill, Kristine Perkins and debutant Liliya Tatarinoff, who rode qualifying, reeled off three strong rides throughout the opening day of racing at Velódromo Peñalolén, to win the bronze after beating Poland by 1.26 seconds.
The men’s sprint team also won bronze on the opening night. The trio of Ryan Elliott, Leigh Hoffman, and Track Worlds debutant Danny Barber overcame France in a tightly contested race for bronze by 0.25 seconds, finishing in a time of 42.611.
On day two of the championships, Australia won silver in the men’s team pursuit, ending a six-year podium drought in one of the sport’s premier events.
The endurance team of Blake Agnoletto, Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy, James Moriarty and Liam Walsh stepped onto the podium below Denmark, who prevailed in the gold medal final in a clinical display of textbook team pursuiting.
Sprinter Leigh Hoffman claimed the second silver medal for Australia by winning an impressive keirin silver medal.
The South Australian claimed his first individual Track Worlds medal by finishing behind the legendary Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen.
Hoffman went on the win a bronze medal in the men’s individual sprint.
Nicola Rutzou – a long-time contributor and, most recently, the editor of Bicycling Australia. Nicola is a keen Sydney-based road cyclist who writes reviews, news, and destination pieces, as well as the weekly e-newsletter for BA online.
