Jennifer Valente Rides to Team USA’s First Medal at 2021 Track Worlds

October 21, 2021

Jennifer Valente kicks off the 2021 UCI Track World Championships with a Bronze Medal in the Women’s Scratch Race

ROUBAIX, France /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – After winning Olympic gold in the Women’s Omnium, Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) is back on the track for the 2021 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Valente started off the championship racing the Women’s Scratch Race. She rode to silver in this event last year, and won the event at the Junior World Championship 10 years ago.

The Scratch Race is straightfoward, whoever crosses the finish line first wins. The race started off slow with no moves being made until about eight laps to go. Verena Eberhardt (AUS) made the initial move. Hungarian rider Hanna Tserakh countered the Austrian’s move, and overcoming her in less than a lap, with Martina Fidanza (ITA) reacting quickly to Tserakh’s attack and taking over the race. It was all Fidanza as she gained about half a lap on the rest of the field. Valente worked to control the rest of the field staying at the front, pulling back both Eberhardt and Tserakh. The silver medal came down to a two-up sprint between Valente and Maike van der Duin (NED). The Dutch rider edged out Valente, awarding the member of Team USA the bronze in the event.

Women’s Scratch Race Results:

1. Martina Fidanza (ITA)
2. Maike van der Duin (NED)
3. Jennifer Valente (USA)

Full Results

Up Next

Tomorrow starts the Sprint tournament for Madalyn Godby (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk). Gavin Hoover (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) will start in his first event of the World Championships with the Men’s Scratch Race along with Kendall Ryan (Ventura, Calif.; L39ion of Los Angeles) competing in the Women’s Elimination Race.

Full Schedule & Live Timing

How to Watch

More about Track Cycling events

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, contact Angelina Palermo at apalermo@usacycling.org.

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)

USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to champion accessibility, participation, and excellence in the sport of cycling to make more Americans healthier, happier, and better on two wheels while achieving sustained international racing success. USA Cycling supports cyclists at all levels, from those just beginning in the sport and participating in fun rides to international caliber racers. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of kids’ and interscholastic programs, amateur bike racing and grassroots development programs, and the provision of critical infrastructure to run organized racing. USA Cycling has a membership of 100,000, annually sanctions over 2,500 events, and is a proud member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).