Lorena Wiebes to chase more rainbow jerseys at Track World Championships with busy event schedule

The Netherlands’ racer Lorena Wiebes will be hoping to add at least one more rainbow jersey to her collection as she once again takes part in the Track World Championships, taking place in Santiago, Chile from October 22 to 26.

Wiebes, who does not have a deep background in track racing, took part in her first senior Track World Championships last year, winning the scratch race to claim her first elite-level rainbow jersey. She went on to take silver in the same event at the European Championships this summer.

After winning the Gravel World Championships on October 11 to take her second rainbow jersey, the 26-year-old will be hoping to continue the winning streak in South America next week.

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Despite her relative inexperience in the discipline, Wiebes has already shown undeniable strength on the track, and in the absence of the Netherlands’ former track stars like Kirsten Wild, she has earned selection for the scratch race, Omnium and Madison with Lisa van Belle in Santiago.

This will see her take on her biggest breadth of track events yet, branching out from the scratch race, often considered one of the most straightforward specialities.

The Netherlands announced their selections for the Track Worlds this week, with Wiebes and Van Belle leading the women’s endurance contingent, whilst Hetty van de Wouw, Steffie van der Peet and Kimberley Kalee head the sprint team.

The nation will rely most heavily on sprinter Harrie Lavreysen for medals, who remains practically undefeated in the individual sprint.

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Undoubtedly the peloton’s best sprinter on the road with 25 wins to her name this year alone, the Netherlands may also have found their next star on the track in Wiebes, and it’s clear they are trying to widen her skill set with a bigger selection of events at this year’s Worlds.

It’s not yet clear exactly what Wiebes is hoping to achieve on the track in the long term, whether it is occasional World and European titles, or perhaps a tilt at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is on the cards.

She appears to be a top choice for the Dutch selectors and could see the velodrome as a better chance at an Olympic title than the road, where the road races are not often too sprinter-friendly.