Cycling at Tokyo Olympics: Germany wins women’s team pursuit with World Record; Dutch men win team sprint

Germany became the first women’s pursuit team to beat Britain in an Olympic final, breaking its own world record with a time of 4:04.259 in track cycling.

Gold medallists Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kroeger of Team Germany, pose on the podium during the medal ceremony after the Women's team pursuit finals of the Track Cycling at Izu Velodrome on Tuesday.

Germany became the first women’s pursuit team to beat Britain in an Olympic final, breaking its own world record with a time of 4:04.259 in track cycling at the Izu Velodrome.

The team of Franziska Brausse, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kroege led the British by nearly 2 seconds by the midway point of the 4,000-meter race and never looked back. The British wound up finishing in 4:10.607.

Britain had won the gold medal the previous three Summer Olympics.

The world champion Americans led the whole way in beating Canada for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands romped past Britain in Olympic-record time to win the men’s team sprint at the Izu Velodrome.

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The team of Jeffrey Hoogland, Roy van den Berg and Harrie Lavreysen stopped the clock in 41.369 seconds to easily beat the British, who had claimed the last three gold medals in the three-lap race.

The British team of Ryan Owens, Jack Carlin and Jason Kenny led by the slimmest margins after the first lap but was unable to keep up the pace. The Dutch pulled after the second lap and wound up easing up across the finish line.

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The British finished in a time of 44.589 seconds.

France easily beat Australia in the matchup for the bronze medal.