Trinidad and Tobago’s Kafele De Sormeaux exited the men’s individual sprint event in the round-of-32 after losing his one-off ride against Belgium's Mathis De Tollenaere on the third day of the 51st UCI Junior Track World Championships at the Sport Vlaanderen Heusden-Zolder Velodrome in Limburg, Belgium, Friday (August 21).
Facing off with De Tollenaere for a spot in the round-of-16, De Sormeaux ended as the runner-up in the heat. The Belgian cyclist crossed the line in 10.606 seconds at a speed of 67.886 ilometres per hour (km/h), finishing 0.291 seconds ahead of the T&T rider.
Earlier in the flying 200m men's sprint qualification, De Sormeaux was the 17th fastest with a time of 10.377 seconds at a speed of 69.384 km/h to secure his spot in the round-of-32. However, countryman Christian Nelson missed out on advancing after placing 32nd with a time of 10.661 seconds at 67.535 km/h.
Great Britain's Ioan Hepburn was the fastest qualifier in 9.811 seconds at 73.387 km/h, followed by Italy's Filippo Cusumano second in 9.941, Germany's Leonidas Rekowski third in 10.060, and Korean Hajin Jeon fourth in 10.075, all advancing automatically to the round-of-16.
Also in action on Friday was T&T's Zion Lucas in heat one of the men's elimination race qualification, where he placed 17th out of 18 riders.
Saturday (August 22), T&T's Shamika Hoyte will line up in the women's 1km time trial heats among a field of 29 cyclists.
