For the second time in his career, the Dane became World Champion in the Madison race.
This year’s Track World Championships were held in Berlin, host of the competition for the sixth time in history, and the event concluded on a high with one of the most entertaining races of the whole week, the 50km Madison. Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Michael Mørkøv and countryman Lasse Norman Hansen were outright favourite to take the victory and the duo lived up to the hype, gaining a lap on the rest of the field and powering to victory in front of a packed Velodrome Arena.
So overwhelming was the dominance of the two Danes – reigning European Champions – that the second-placed team, New Zealand, finished the race, which included 20 sprints, almost 30 points down. For Michael, this was his third world title on the track, and his second in the Madison, after the one nabbed more than a decade ago, in the Polish city of Pruszkow.
“I am extremely happy and grateful to my Deceuninck – Quick-Step team, because they allowed me to leave the UAE Tour so I could compete here, and I can’t thank them enough for this”, an emotional Michael said following his victory, which came after a crazy 72 hours that included being isolated and training on the rollers before being cleared by the doctors over coronavirus suspicions. “This week was an up-and-down one for me. I was confined in my hotel room here in Berlin and didn’t know if I was even going to race. This makes my victory even more special and I’m very proud to take gold in my favourite discipline. World Champion in the Madison after 11 years feels incredible!”
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images