Michael Yakobov continued his rich vein of international form at the weekend, sweeping both the keirin and match sprint titles at the Grand Prix of Poland in Pruszków, ONE reported.
The Israeli sprinter, who rides for Maccabi Tel Aviv, backed up the double with a fast time in qualifying, clocking 9.473 seconds over the 200-metre flying-start sprint test — a track record at the Arena Pruszków velodrome, according to the report.
The wins came shortly after Yakobov began working with Igor Krymski, the Polish national team's sprint coach, a new partnership ONE tied directly to his recent surge in form.
Both titles carry UCI ranking points, which matter increasingly for Yakobov as he looks to stay near the top of the world sprint standings heading into the next major championship cycle.
Now in his mid-20s, Yakobov has become the standard-bearer for track cycling in Israel since switching allegiance from Russia in 2022 under the Law of Return. At the Paris 2024 Olympics he clocked a 9.152-second Olympic record in sprint qualifying — the first Olympic record set by an Israeli athlete in any discipline — before losing a photo-finish in the round of 16.
He followed that with keirin silver at the 2024 World Championships in Ballerup, Denmark, Israel's first world championship medal in track cycling, and sprint silver at last year's European Championships in Herselt, Belgium.
The keirin result in Pruszków was also picked up independently by the Polish cycling outlet naszosie.pl, which covered the opening day of the LOTTO Grand Prix of Poland/2036.CUP meeting held August 15-16.
A UCI Class 2 Grand Prix double is a smaller stage than an Olympic final, but for Yakobov and Israeli cycling it is exactly the kind of week-in, week-out points-gathering that keeps him competitive for the sport's biggest events.
