News: Katie Archibald Queen of the Bunch races

Katie Archibald (Wiggle High5) dominates Women’s British Track Champs as she defends her titles in the Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race and Points Race, and took a further Bronze Medal in the Sprint

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News: Katie Archibald Queen of the Bunch races

Katie Archibald (Wiggle High5) dominated the individual events at the British Track Championships as she successfully defended her titles in the Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race and Points Race, and took a further Bronze Medal in the Sprint. The 23-year-old Scot took a red, white and blue banded jersey on each of the three days of the Championships despite having sat out the recent World Cup event in Minsk, Belarus.

“I’ve just been training at home,” Archibald explained. “Been getting a bit of turbo time. I think that’s the British secret; you get turbo-fit, and that translates to the track very nicely.”

As an Olympic Champion, an former World Champion, in the Team Pursuit, and the reigning Omnium World Champion, Archibald is acknowledged as one of the top endurance riders in the World. She entered the Sprint as a means to improve her performance in the events, however, as she explained.

“About three years ago Laura Trott and I decided to enter the Keirin for the first time because we thought it would be good Scratch Race practice,” Archibald said. “Gradually we became competitive, and the way the Omnium is going the best in the World are the fastest in the World. You need that top end speed to be successful in the Omnium now, and I thought that the Sprint was a good way to test that.

“It was just a bit of fun, and it went very well,” she laughed. “I guess I went in with low expectations and once I got a taste for it I realised that I really would fancy doing well. Once I was through to the semi-finals and there was actually a taste of getting a medal, I was almost more excited than I am for my normal races because the nerves weren’t there.”
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Archibald’s Championship concluded with a spectacular victory in the Points Race, where her only real option was to lap the field in the closing stages of an exciting race.

“I think I tried too hard. I still feel ill this morning!” she laughed. “It was seriously tough. My brother won the men’s Points Race the day before and his had been similar with him being out trying to get a solo lap for a long time. He was away for two sprints, so he was out for at least 12 laps. Mine was similar – I was out for maybe nine or ten – and my brother was here on the sideline shouting at me that I’m going to make it, I’m going to make it.

“I started losing ground at one point, and they were getting further and further away, and I was desperate for somebody to shout out ‘Can it! Can it!’ It was going to take everything.

“It wasn’t the only way to win,” she concluded. “The maths meant that I could go back and win the final sprint, but that would also rely on somebody else doing badly. It was all or nothing really, and then I could barely walk!”

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