Reigning world champion Mathilde Gros and Marie-Divine Kouamé qualified for the round of 16 in the individual sprint at the Track Cycling Worlds on Monday in Glasgow.
The 24-year-old Provençale, crowned last year in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, finished sixth in qualifying and then beat New Zealander Shaane Fulton without shaking in the round of 16. Marie-Divine Kouamé also qualified by dominating the Canadian Sarah Orban. Julie Michaux, on the other hand, was eliminated.
The 8th and quarter-finals of the speed, queen event of the Worlds on track, will take place on Tuesday. The semi-final and the final on Wednesday. One year from the Paris Olympics where she will aim for gold, Mathilde Gros has so far not shone in Glasgow.
Eliminated in team speed in qualifying with Kouame and Michaux, she ranked only sixth in the final of the keirin, another Olympic discipline, on Sunday.
