Track Worlds Day 2 – GB Report

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Great Britain as Katie Archibald made her return to the track with a silver in the elimination and the women’s team pursuit squad brought home the bronze medal.

TRACK WORLDS (GB REPORT) SILVER SUCCESS FOR SCOT ARCHIBALD WHILE WOMEN’S TEAM PURSUIT BAG BRILLIANT BRONZE
GB press release

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Great Britain as Katie Archibald made her return to the track with a silver in the elimination and the women’s team pursuit squad brought home the bronze medal. In the sprint events, Matt Richardson and Harry Ledingham-Horn were knocked out in the keirin quarterfinals, while Emma Finucane made it furthest in the women’s sprint, before also being knocked out in the quarters.

Women’s elimination race
In a dramatic race that took three attempts to get started due to early crashes, having just about manged to keep herself out of danger, Katie Archibald found her flow and stayed safe from elimination for the bulk of the race. In her first world championships elimination race, she skirted the line between energy conservation and safety with ease, managing her efforts to stay out of the danger zone.

With the group whittled down to just four; Katie, Lara Gillespie (IRL), Helene Hesters (BEL) and Victoire Berteau (FRA), Archibald made a last-minute sprint to knock out Berteau. Once the podium was confirmed, Belgium bowed leaving a match sprint for the win. Archibald pushed down hard to pressure Gillespie, who responded in kind before pushing for the line. With Gillespie creating a gap, Archibald just didn’t have the legs to contest, and she took a well-raced silver medal.

On her performance, Archibald said: “Once we got going, I had a couple of close calls and then got into the swing of things and got to where I was comfortable. I’m really happy to get to that point to contend when it’s a different race in the final two; you do an elimination race and then a match sprint. “So, I feel like I did well in the elimination race and then I just didn’t have the legs! Rationally I’m very happy, physically in my legs I’m a bit disappointed, but I guess that’s the mark of respect for a world championship title; you want to be on the top step.”

Women’s team pursuit
Having qualified second fastest, Anna Morris, Josie Knight, Jess Roberts and Meg Barker faced third place qualifier Germany in the first round. Delivering their trademark conservative start, the British quartet never quite hit their qualifying pace, allowing Germany to move ahead where they stayed, eventually taking the win by 1.677 seconds. GB’s time of 4:10.736 saw face Belgium in the bronze medal ride-off, having outpaced them by just under five seconds in their previous rides.

Maddie Leech was brought in in place of Jess Roberts and the team got off to a flying start, with a second on the Belgians within the first kilometre. Knight took a two and a half lap turn to take the lead to 2.268 seconds by halfway, before Barker gave her final push and peeled off. Their dominant performance continued as they crept up on their opponents, crossing the line just a few bike lengths away from getting the catch, to take the bronze medal.

Men’s scratch race
Mark Stewart worked hard to manage a chaotic and broken up scratch race, trying a couple of early moves but unable to make them stick. As the race broke up, with multiple large groups spread across the track, and big hitters including Hesters (BEL), Bibic (CAN), Koontz (USA), Leitao (POR) building a gap, Stewart attempted to bridge over into the action. As the laps counted down and the race splintered and strung out, Stewart was unable to get back into contention and finished 22nd overall.

Men’s keirin
Harry Ledingham-Horn and Matt Richardson were up in the men’s keirin, both flying through their qualifying heats in first and second place respectively. Richardson started his quarterfinal in fifth position, having to work hard to move towards the front over the top as the race stretched out ahead of him. A final acceleration in the last lap unfortunately wasn’t enough to make the top four, ending his competition for today. Similarly, after a strong first ride, Ledingham-Horn initially positioned himself well in the middle of the pack before dropping the pace and falling back unable to rejoin the fray, also being knocked out of the day’s racing.

Women’s sprint
The women’s sprint started well with all three British riders – Iona Moir, Lauren Bell, and Emma Finucane – placing inside the top 24 to progress to the next round, with Finucane receiving a bye for placing third. Moir left the competition in the 1/16 finals, after a fierce battle against Alla Biletska (UKR) where she was just pushed out of the frame by 0.023 seconds, ending her competition. Meanwhile, Bell out-rode Kayla Hankins (USA) to bag her spot in the 1/8s where she would face compatriot Finucane.

After a cagey start, Finucane began her wind up with two laps to go before launching her sprint. Bell tried to use the height of the track to get around her teammate, but FInucane held on to secure her spot in the quarter-final. Finucane’s first quarter-final against Iana Burkalova (AIN) saw Finucane force Burkalova to lead, before slowing winding her way up the track, pouncing with one lap to go. Finucane dropped down at speed to Burkalova’s level before powering over the top with incredible speed. Burkalova put up a fight, but Finucane pipped her to take the first win.

Their second race saw Finucane lead, creeping round the black line before launching her sprint, pushing hard over the top before being pushed slightly up the track by Burkalova. Finucane lost the pace a little in the final half lap, for Burkalova to take the score to one a piece. In the decider, after facing off with track stands on the first lap, Burkalova eventually ceded and led the sprint. Finucane dropped down fast to take a lead, gaining metres with half a lap to go, however the defending champion was relegated for dropping into the sprinter’s lane, ending her competition.

Joe Truman is back in action in the men’s kilo while European champion Josh Charlton contests the individual pursuit title, as will teammates Michael Gill and Charlie Tanfield. Josh Tarling will make his track world championships debut in the points race while Jess Roberts steps up for the women’s omnium. You can follow the action live across the BBC red button, iPlayer and BBC Sport Website