JUNIOR & YOUTH TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3

DAY 3: Champions crowned on the day were Henry Hobbs and title number 3 & 4 (two titles on day 3, Kilo and Madison!), Seren Thomas, Melanie Rowe, Katie Robertson, Samuel Price (3rd Gold), Cameron Hounsell and Phoebe Taylor.

JUNIOR & YOUTH TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3 (British Cycling Press Release)

Henry Hobbs (FH MAS CAMS) was the first gold medallist of the day, his third of the week to add to a growing collection, with a stellar ride in the JUNIOR MEN’S 1km TIME TRIAL recording a time of 1:00.636. Dylan Bowen (Wales Racing Academy) picked up the silver medal with a time of 1:03.645, while the final place on the podium was taken by Ryan Oldfield (Halesowen A & CC) with a time of 1:04.356.

Speaking after the race, about his favourite moment this week, Hobbs said: “Winning. All of it so far as the experience of having a race this big is nice to be at, and having the experience of such a big crowd so it’s all good.”

YOUTH BOYS INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT
Samuel Price (Ilkeston Cycle Club) took home yet another national championship in the youth open individual pursuit to add to his two from the scratch race and elimination race, as well as his bronze in the sprints. It was a hotly contested race with Price second to Noah Smith (GKR Racing) for much of the race, but in the final lap, Price stormed into the lead and took home the gold with a time of 2:13.840. Smith recorded a time of 2:14.442 to take the silver medal. Finley Storrie (GKR Racing) won the bronze medal with a time of 2:16.120. After another tight finish to a race, Price spoke about his expectations before the week and about the race itself. “I felt happy after the omnium so I just wanted to see how it went at the track champs because I didn’t expect or mind what happened so I was just seeing what happened. It was really nerve-wracking race as I felt a bit rubbish from the start, so it was brutal trying to keep up and I just got it in the end.”

YOUTH BOYS KEIRIN
The open youth keirin race was full of twists and turns with lots of jostling for position but it was Cameron Hounsell (Team RL360 Isle Of Man) who emerged as the winner of the race as he took advantage of a gap opening towards the end. George Harold (ESV Manchester) and Elijah Storti (Welwyn Wheelers CC) made up the rest of the podium taking silver and bronze respectively.

Speaking after his win, Hounsell said: “It feels pretty good coming across the water, it means a lot to take the jersey home. It was really hard, I was just trying to pick up the pace going into the first few laps and just adapt to what other people were doing and before I thought about anything, people came over the top and I saw a gap to get out so I knew I had to go and carry on from there. It was probably one of the hardest races I have ever done.”

JUNIOR WOMEN 1KM TIME TRIAL
In the junior women 1km time trial, Phoebe Taylor (Shibden Apex RT) took on Evie Smith (Shibden Apex RT) in the gold medal match.
The race proved to be the closest one out of the four heats, with Taylor coming out on top with an impressive time of 1:09.912, granting her top spot, with Evie Smith just tailing behind with a time of 1:10.928, securing silver. Post-race, Taylor said: “The race was really hard” and despite her legs “starting seizing up on the last half lap, I knew I had to push through it”.

YOUTH GIRLS INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT
In the youth girls individual pursuit race, Melanie Rowe (Deeside Thistle CC) secured another top spot and a national title, showcasing her ability as she powered past the other cyclists. In second place was Aisling Charlesworth (Fibrax Fenwick’s Wrexham CC), while Katie Robertson (Clifton CC) finished third. Megastar Rowe said: “The game plan was to go on as hard as I can, hold on for two kilometers and keep the pace for the last few rides. I was really happy to be on the podium. It’s what I’ve been aiming for the whole year so I was really happy.”

JUNIOR WOMEN’S SCRATCH RACE
The junior women’s scratch race got off to a slow start as expected, but after the 15th lap, there was a rapid increase in speed and as the junior women battled it out for top spot.
As the final lap dawned, it was anyone’s race, but it was Seren Thomas (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) who finished victorious. Following Thomas on the podium were Abigail Miller (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) and Ayesha Vose (Brother UK – On Form) who finished with the silver and bronze medals respectively. Afterwards Thomas said: “I’m really proud, so happy to be on the podium. It’s my first win of my career so it feels good. Hopefully I’ll get some more.”

YOUTH GIRLS KEIRIN
In the girls youth keirin, Katie Robertson (Clifton CC) took the national champion jersey, dominating in the final few laps of the competition. Robertson had won both her heat and semi final, as had Amelie Freeman (Palmer Park Velo RT) who had to settle for silver. Eira Hughes Lewis (NV2 Cycling Club) had to battle it out in the repechage but managed to bounce back, filling out the rest of the podium positions in bronze. Speaking after, Robertson commented: “I’m really happy with that, I’m not really an endurance rider, but I thought the Kierin would be something I could try. I just thought I knew that I’d be better if I could go early, so with two to go I just pushed on, and I knew that I had to just carry on the effort, because if someone came at me, then that would be the end.”

JUNIOR MEN MADISON
The junior Men’s Madison did not disappoint when closing out the day of action. A super team of Henry Hobbs (FH MAS CAMS) and Rory Gravelle (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco), who won bronze at the European championships, dominated proceedings from the start, winning the first five sprints, and coming away with the national title with 36 points, Hobbs’ fourth in three days.

Max Hinds (FH MAS CAMS) and Toby Tombs (Lee Valley Youth Cycling Club) won the final sprint, helping them secure the silver medal with 15 points, while consistent top four standings by Oliver Gill (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) and Ryan Oldfield (Halesowen A & CC) meant they rounded out the podium positions in Bronze on 14 points. Speaking on the win, Hobbs said: “We had high expectations, and we had a bit of a poor performance at Euros, so we wanted to kind of make up for it this week. Gravelle added: “Exactly. I think we came into this race with high hopes, pretty confident in ourselves, I wanted to show what we can do after the Euros.”

RESULTS ARE HERE: