Jenny Holl and stoker Sophie Unwin travelled to the French capital with high hopes, but even they doubted that their Paralympic Games would go this well.
After gold and bronze on the track, the pair secured silver in the Time Trial on Wednesday, beaten by the Irish tandem of Katie-George Dunlevy, piloted by Linda Kelly.
On a rolling circuit, the hills would favour the Irish pair, whereas the Paralympics GB tandem would be hoping to use their superior track speed in the closing stages. Racing over just shy of 100km, the latter stages saw the race go to script, a two horse race in which the Irish tried to drop the Brits on the hills, constantly driving the pace on the front.
But Holl and Unwin rode a smart race, staying glued to the back wheel of their opposition, and as the kilometres ticked down, the pendulum swung in their favour. The Irish pressed as hard as they could up the final climb, but the Brits were more than a match.
Coming into the final kilometre, we would be treated to a sprint, in which the Brits prevailed by some margin. Round the final corner with 400m to go, Holl used all her bike handling skills to take the fastest racing line, exiting the turn in front, the Stirling rider and her English teammate Unwin powering to victory with time to punch the air in delight.
With Unwin shedding joyful tears, Holl explained:
“The Irish were always going to be the ones to beat on this course – the hills really suit them, and they put nearly a minute and a half into us over two laps in the Time Trial two days ago, so they’re clearly flying, so we knew they’d be going all out to try and win this one as well.
“I’ve been saying it all year in every race we’ve done: ‘today is an exercise in patience’ and today was another exercise in patience. Today I was actually patient and it worked and finally we nailed it.
“We had that carrot in front of us and I knew that if it came down to a sprint we’d be in a really good position.”
What a ride, what a Games. From silver and bronze in Tokyo, to two golds, a silver and a bronze in Paris, this really is the stuff of dreams. Congratulations to Jenny, Sophie and everyone who has supported their journey to this point.
The final Scot in action at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Fin Graham, who goes in the Men’s C1-C3 Road Race at 8.30am on Saturday 7th September.