Sawt Falasteen - Lavreysen helps Dutch to European team sprint crown

The Dutch have now won six of the last seven European titles in the discipline but were pushed hard in Apeldoorn by France who had to settle for silver, with Poland completing the podium.

The Netherlands, also featuring Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg on Wednesday, are expecting to face a tough challenge from Australia when they defend their Olympic team sprint title in Paris later this year.

"A title at home is always very special even if the highlight of my spring will be the Nations Cup in Hong Kong (in March), where I'll be able to see how I'm faring compared to the Australians ahead of the Olympics," said Lavreysen.

"We were much faster than expected," the 26-year-old told AFP. "In our fight... against Australia, it's always a good thing to take."

Lavreysen, the world and Olympic individual sprint champion, and Hoogland have both now been part of six successful European sprint teams.

Germany won the women's team sprint to add to their world title, while Denmark's Tobias Hansen took gold in the men's elimination race.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST