Harrie Lavreysen suffers rare defeat and loses European sprint title to Matthew Richardson

Harrie Lavreysen failed to defend his European sprint title. In Konya, Turkey, he had to acknowledge the superiority of his great rival Matthew Richardson in the final. The Briton came out on top in three heats.

After Lavreysen had seen off Nikita Kiriltsev in the semi-finals, the much-anticipated showdown with Matthew Richardson awaited in the evening, who in turn had beaten Mateusz Rudyk. In the first heat between Lavreysen and Richardson, the Dutchman had to start from the front. Just before the bell rang, he launched his sprint, with Richardson trying to come around the outside. Lavreysen managed to hold off the Brit and took the lead: 1–0.

In the second heat, Lavreysen was able to start from the second position, but he could not get past Richardson. The latter held firm and levelled the score at 1–1. A third heat was needed. In this decisive sprint, Lavreysen again started from the front. He seemed to have Richardson under control, but just before the final corner the Brit managed to come past. That made it 1–2 in favour of Richardson.

Lavreysen therefore had to settle for silver, after having won the European sprint title three years in a row (in 2023, 2024 and 2025). He also won gold in 2021. In 2022, he did not compete at the European Championships.