Olympics: Track cyclist Fabio Van den Bossche wins bronze in men's omnium

Track cyclist Fabio Van den Bossche won bronze in the men's omnium at the Olympic Games in Paris on Thursday. Frenchman Benjamin Thomas took gold.

Van den Bossche, who was leading the standings going into the final, dropped to third after the points race at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines track.

The cyclist from Ghent rode a 100-lap mounted points race and was in first place with 40 laps to go. Then Thomas overtook the Belgian, who had to go full steam ahead to secure a medal.

Van den Bossche opened the omnium with a third place in the scratch (36 points) and won the time trial with 40 points. He then finished sixth in the elimination with 30 points. 

With 25 more points from the points race, he finished with a total of 131 points, good enough for bronze. Thomas took gold with a total of 164 points. Portugal's Iuri Leitão took silver with 153 points.

The track riders completed the four sections of the omnium in less than three hours on Thursday evening. The 23-year-old Van den Bossche had already done an impressive job with the pursuit team at the start of these Olympic Games, twice coming close to the Belgian record and finishing eighth.

The medal is Belgium's sixth at the Paris Games, following two golds for cyclist Remco Evenepoel, bronze for cyclists Wout van Aert and Lotte Kopecky, and bronze for judoka Gabriella Willems.

^{© BELGA PHOTO BENOIT DOPPAGNE}