The Danish track quartet is ready for the World Championship final in the 4,000-meter team pursuit.
Rasmus Lund, Lasse Norman Leth, Frederik Rodenberg, and Carl-Frederik Bévort delivered a commanding performance against Australia on Wednesday afternoon, dominating from start to finish.
The matchup against Australia was a rematch of last year's World Championship final. Once again, the Danes proved the strongest, securing their spot in the final, which takes place on Thursday CET.
The Danes will aim for a fourth consecutive World Championship title against Italy, who defeated Great Britain in the first round.
The Italians are fielding several of their top riders, including Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna, and qualified for the final with a time of 3 minutes and 45.332 seconds.
Great Britain will race for the bronze medal against France, who posted a faster time than Australia.
At the World Championships in Shanghai, the Danes are without Niklas Larsen, who stayed home due to illness. He has been a key member of the track team for years and helped win Olympic bronze in 2016.
In addition to the four riders who competed in the first round, the Danish World Championship squad includes Tobias Aagaard. He rode the qualifying round, while Lasse Norman Leth took his place in the first round.
The World Championships mark the start of qualification for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the ultimate goal for national coach Casper Jørgensen and his squad in this flagship Danish discipline.
Despite their great success at the World Championships, Denmark has never managed to reach the top step of the podium in the team pursuit at the Olympics.
The Danes came closest at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where—despite holding a clear lead at one point—they narrowly lost the final to Italy. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Denmark finished outside the medals.
