UCI Track Nations Cup Day 2

Charlie Tanfield blazed to a bronze medal in the individual pursuit on the second day of the UCI Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, adding a third medal to the Great Britain Cycling Team’s tally with two days of competition still to come.

UCI Track Nations Cup Day 2

Photo: UCI_Track (Twitter)

Men’s individual pursuit
Tanfield put in a brilliant performance to qualify third fastest in a time of 4:09.241, placing him in a bronze medal ride off against fourth placed Tobias Buck-Gramcko.

Tanfield turned on the heat in his final ride against the German to post a time of 4:09.209 and claim his place on the podium, securing a bronze medal for Great Britain in front of an appreciative home crowd.

Afterwards he said: “I’m feeling really good. I got a late entry into the individual pursuit – I was only in the team pursuit originally and unfortunately, my teammate Dan [Bigham] got Covid and so I got called in. I got the cheers setting off which was nice. It’s always good to hear that and it gees you up a bit more. I’m really happy with that because I got a medal today and I didn’t come in with those expectations. The crowd definitely helped.”

“I felt really nicely in control and I could tell with two to go that I could have him because I could see him on the other side of the track and I still had a bit left in the tank and I just switched it on a bit more. So it was nice to finish it like that.”

French rider Corentin Ermenault took the top spot, while Brits Kyle Gordon (Spellman Dublin Port Track Team), Jonathan Wale (Chaney Windows and Doors) and junior rider Josh Tarling (Great Britain Cycling Team) finished fifth, seventh and 14th respectively.

Men’s kilo
Harvey McNaughton (Team Wales) and Hayden Norris (Team Inspired) were the highest British finishers in the men’s kilo, in 16th and 17th place respectively. McNaughton posted a time of 1:02.761 in qualifying while Norris stopped the clock in 1:02.784, The overall competition was won by Colombia’s Cristian David Ortega Fontalvo.

Women’s elimination
Neah Evans was involved in an early crash in the women’s elimination race caused by a touch of wheels in the bunch, before getting back in the saddle to take sixth place. Following a lengthy suspension of the race while the track was repaired, Evans found herself trapped at the bottom of the track and unable to battle it out for a podium place, with Japan’s omnium Olympic silver medallist Yumi Kajihara taking the victory.

Men’s elimination
Great Britain had three riders make it to the men’s elimination final with Ethan Vernon (Great Britain Cycling Team), Will Tidball (Team Inspired) and Will Perrett (Spellman Dublin Port Track Team) up against some of the world’s best riders.

Perrett rode a great tactical race and was just edged out to finish in eighth place, while Tidball went out the round before in ninth, and Vernon finished 14th. World champion Elia Viviani took the gold with ease, crossing the line with open arms to finish ahead of Dutch rider Yoeri Havik (Beat Cycling).

Women’s sprint
In women’s sprint qualifying Great Britain’s Sophie Capewell qualified eighth fastest in 10.8390 seconds, while Rhian Edmunds returned to the track after last night’s team sprint bronze for Team Wales by qualifying in 11th place with a time of 10.893.

Both riders then progressed smoothly through the 1/16 finals, before Edmunds departed the competition in the 1/8 finals, losing out to Colombia’s eventual bronze medallist Martha Bayona Pineda.

Capewell however progressed once again, overcoming Australia’s Breanna Hargrave, setting up a quarter final against Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell. In the best of three match, Mitchell showed her class to take the victory in straight races, before going on to take gold in the evening session.

The event continues today (Saturday) with medals up for grabs in the women’s 500m time-trial, women’s individual pursuit, men’s Madison, men’s keirin and women’s omnium. The evening session, covering each of the five finals, will once again be broadcast live on the BBC iPlayer and Red Button.