Words by Phil Jones in Manchester, Sportsbeat, Images by Chris Maher
Track Cycling World Cup: Great Britain win Team Pursuit and Madison Golds
Great Britain grabbed double gold on a raucous night at the TISSOT UCI Track World Cup in Manchester.
The home men’s team pursuit quartet got the party started in the night’s first final as they beat Denmark comfortably in the gold medal ride.
And in the very next race it was Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald who, in their first international Madison as a pair, beat the Belgian world champions to a stunning gold.
Four other titles were decided on the night as Daria Shmeleva took the 500m time trial, Harrie Lavreysen won the men’s sprint, Kristina Vogel was victorious in the keirin and Benjamin Thomas claimed omnium gold.
Britain show Olympic pedigree
Reigning Olympic Champions Great Britain showed their class in the men’s team pursuit to put in a dominant display and give the sellout Manchester crowd the gold they craved.
Ed Clancy – in his first GB track appearance since Rio 2016 – combined with Kian Emadi, Ollie Wood and Steven Burke to beat Denmark by nearly six seconds, with a time of 3:55.847 – European champions France taking bronze.
I’ve missed the boys, I’ve missed the team pursuit, I’ve missed the track,
That was a nice way to kick it off again at a home World Cup.
I have to admit, I love the place, it feels like home. It’s nice to come here and do this.
Clancy hailed Wood as their strongest man in the closing stages, a compliment the 21-year-old was happy to accept.
It’s quite flattering for Ed to say that. You’re only as fast as your weakest man, so we need to be as strong as each other ideally,
For everyone to do what we did there, I think we all need to give ourselves a pat on the back.
Made for Madison
Going up against the reigning world champions Jolien D’Hoore and Lotte Kopecky, Barker and Archibald – reigning points race and omnium rainbow jersey holders – showed no fear as they won five of the first six sprints and were second over the finish line to beat the Belgians by two points overall, with Italy’s Rachele Barbieri and Elisa Balsamo finishing third.
It’s never as easy as saying we’re two world champions, that’s what should happen,
There were a lot of things in today’s race that I’ve seen on video, but today they finally clicked into place.
It feels pretty good to beat the world champions in front of a home crowd.
I’ve done quite a few Madisons this year and had a lot of seconds and thirds and come really close to a win.
So it was nice to save it for in front of a home crowd.
Vogel doubles up
Reigning world champion Vogel dominated the keirin throughout the day and with the final being marred by a crash involving four riders, the German – in the lead when Australia’s Stephanie Morton crashed behind her – was given a free ride to the finish line to add gold to her team sprint title from Friday.
This one is nice to have – it’s another gold medal – but it’s not the way you’d want to win,
It’s just good that the ladies are alright and nothing is broken. It’s always hard when it’s full gas, there’s no space to handle and change positions.
I felt Stephanie clip my wheel but in the end my tactic of staying on the front worked.
Shanne Braspennincx took silver for the Netherlands with compatriot Laurine van Riessen claiming bronze as Fatehah Mustapha was disqualified and Morton failed to finish.
The night’s other women’s sprint event saw another world champion prevail as Russia’s Daria Shmeleva beat European champion Miriam Welte in the 500m time trial by just 0.021s, with Ukraine’s Olena Starikova picking up the bronze.
Thomas shows his stripes
The penultimate race of the omnium saw Benjamin Thomas once again in contention, but he was beaten in the elimination race by Denmark’s Niklas Larsen as Britain’s Mark Stewart took third.
That meant the French reigning world champion took a six-point lead over Larsen into the final points race, with European champion Albert Torres a further ten back.
Thomas maintained his lead in the points race, eventually finishing 11 points ahead of Larsen, but not before Mark Stewart threw a cat among the pigeons with a solo lap gain – eventually finishing fifth.
It was not easy, it was a really hard day. Niklas and Torres were really strong – they pushed me to my limits in the points race so I’m really happy to win, finishing my season with a victory,
Mark Stewart did a great race. I knew that I had enough points on him but if he took the lap he’d be on the podium and I’d have to take the lap.
So that’s what I did with Torres and Niklas, so it worked. But Mark did a great race after his crash in the scratch race and for me it was the perfect day.
Lavreysen just too good
The men’s sprint saw Lavreysen romp to victory in the final, beating Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk in straight rides after overcoming fellow Dutchman Matthijs Buchli in the semi-finals.
Buchli’s crash in the the last ride of that semi-final left him injured and unable to contest the bronze medal match, meaning Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer took the medal.
- Men’s Team Pursuit Podium
- Women’s Madison Podium
- Men’s Omnium Podium
- Men’s Sprint Podium
- Women’s Keirin Podium
- Women’s 500m Time Trial Podium
- Team Classification
- Best British Rider
GOLD Great Britain, Burke, Clancy, Wood & Emadi
SILVER Denmark, Pedersen, Von Folsach, Johansen & Kaimer Eriksen
BRONZE France, Thomas, Maitre, Pijourlet & Denis
GOLD Great Britain, Archibald & Barker
SILVER Belgium, D’Hoore & Kopecky
BRONZE Italy, Barbieri & Balsamo
GOLD Benjamin Thomas France
SILVER Niklas Larsen Denmark
BRONZE Alberto Torres Spain
GOLD Harrie Lavereysen Netherlands
SILVER Mateusz Rudyk Poland
BRONZE Matthew Gleatzer Australia
GOLDKristina VogelGermany
SILVER Shanne Braspennincx Netherlands
BRONZE Laurine Van Riessen Matrix Fitness Pro Cycling
GOLD Daria Shmelva Russian Republic
SILVER Miriam Welte Germany
BRONZE Olena Starikova Ukraine
1 Wm3 Pro Cycling Team 11h38’29” 00″
34 / 31 / 33
2 Team Sunweb 11h40’11” 01’42”
52 / 55 / 53
3 Cervelo – Bigla Pro Cycling Team 11h40’11” ‘ ‘
11 / 13 / 14
4 Canyon Sram Racing 11h40’11” ‘ ‘
75 / 73 / 72
5 Fdj Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope 11h40’19” 01’50”
114 / 112 / 111
6 Boels Dolmans Cyclingteam 11h40’19” ‘ ‘
4 / 5 / 6
7 Hitec Products 11h40’19” ‘ ‘
104 / 101 / 105
8 Wiggle High5 11h40’19” ‘ ‘
22 / 21 / 23
9 Team Wnt Pro Cycling 11h40’19” ‘ ‘
161 / 165 / 166
10 Drops 11h40’20” 01’51”
81 / 82 / 86
11 Ale Cipollini 11h40’28” 01’59”
61 / 63 / 64
12 Lensworld – Kuota 11h40’28” ‘ ‘
143 / 142 / 141
13 Cylance Pro Cycling 11h40’35” 02’06”
91 / 93 / 94
14 Bepink Cogeas 11h40’43” 02’14”
123 / 122 / 124
15 Team Veloconcept Women 11h40’52” 02’23”
151 / 155 / 152
16 Orica Scott 11h40’57” 02’28”
46 / 44 / 41
17 Lares – Waowdeals Women Cycling Team 11h41’24” 02’55”
1 81 BARNES Alice DRP GBR 00″
2 161 ARCHIBALD Katie WNT GBR ‘ ‘
3 73 BARNES Hannah LPR GBR ‘ ‘
4 82 DURRELL Rebecca DRP GBR ‘ ‘
5 91 KING Danielle CPC GBR 07″
6 165 ROE Eileen WNT GBR 08″
7 1 DEIGNAN Elizabeth DLT GBR ‘ ‘
8 166 GRINCZER Natalie WNT GBR ‘ ‘
9 86 PAYTON Hannah DRP GBR 17″
10 83 PARKINSON Abby-Mae DRP GBR ‘ ‘
11 3 BRAMMEIER Nikki DLT GBR 24″
12 85 SIMPSON Annabel DRP GBR 03’15”
13 163 JONES Hayley WNT GBR 19’28”
Abandon
132 COBB Alice LWD GBR
Phil Jones
Writer
Phil Jones is a senior journalist with Sportsbeat.
Whose clients include the British Olympic Association, Six Nations Rugby, the British and Irish Lions and The Open Golf championships.
Website: www.sportsbeat.co.uk
Chris Maher
Photographer
Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk
All reports from 2nd Round UCI World Cup 2017
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