Track Euros
A stunning ride from the Great Britain team pursuit team led by Katie Archibald on Monday night claimed their second world record of the day as they defeated the Germans to take the European title.
The final against Germany saw GB take a slight lead in the first kilometre as both teams settled themselves into the 4km effort. The Germans momentarily put the Brits under pressure around the hallway point but they responded confidently and committed to their lead.
With 1km to go, the British lead was over half a second and as Morris left the team of three. Archibald was able, alongside Josie Knight, to continue to build the gap to eek out the final deficit to an incredible 2.64 seconds, taking the title and with it a new world record of 4:02.808.
The women’s team pursuit quartet of Kate Richardson (replacing Archibald), Knight, Morris and Millie Couzens comfortably qualified for Monday’s first round, placing third overall in 4:07.447.
Monday morning saw Katie Archibald come into the team for Richardson in the first round – the Great Britain squad setting a new World Record of 4:03.643. The quartet comfortably booking their place in the Gold Medal final after the stunning ride.
Sunday night was the first session of the European Track Championships, with Lauren Bell scored silver as part of the Great Britain Team Sprint team on day one in Turkey.
The trio of Rhiannon Parris-Smith, Bell and Lowri Thomas cruised through qualifying and secured a comfortable lead in round one against Czechia, with Parris-Smith delivering a huge opening lap, finishing in 45.931. Bell would be rested for the final but a great start for the Highland sprinter.
Cyclocross Worlds
Sunday saw the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hulst, with Cameron Mason looking to make an impact.
The rainbow jersey was very quickly sewn up as Mathieu van der Poel was all but gauranteed his eighth title from the start, which he went on to take.
For Mason, it was a battle of attrition as he started strongly pushing off the third row to get into the top-10 early on. A big group stuck together for the first couple of laps, with Mason dropping off slightly into 14th, five seconds behind the main chase group. As the race continued, the pace never let up, but as the rain came and worsened already risky conditions, Mason ended the race in a respectable 21st place.
Friday’s team relay saw a strong performance from the Scottish rider – taking back over a minute on the leaders on the fourth lap and leaving the the two final Great Britain riders in a solid position, coming across the line in fourth.
Mason will now look to the end of the X20 Trofee with the final two rounds to come in the next fortnight, the Seven Racing rider currently sits in second place in the overall standings.
Road Racing
Lauren Dickson (FDJ United-Suez) finished off her Australian adventure with two strong showings. The Edinburgh native scored ninth place in Cadel’s Criteriums – the Surf Coast Classic’s late race replacement after bushfires suspended the original racing plans.
In the final race of the Australian leg, Dickson would take home 11th while riding in support for race winner Ally Wollaston in Geelong at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
Callum Thornley too finished off his Australian stint with Red Bull-BORA hansgrohe.
The week also saw debuts for two Discovery Junior CC alumni Mark Stewart wore the striking burgundy kit of Modern Adventure in Saudi Arabia at the AlUla Tour, while Alfie George was in the thick of the action at GP la Marseillaise with Elite Fondations. The former junior Paris-Roubaix winner will look to kick on at Étoile de Bessèges which starts on Wednesday, while Stewart makes the short journey to Turkey for the European Championships.