Elinor Barker won scratch race silver to open the Great Britain Cycling Team’s medal account at the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong.
Olympic team pursuit champion Barker attacked from three laps out in the 40-lap race, leading until the final straight.
Italy’s Rachele Barbieri edged the 22-year-old out of the rainbow jersey in a thrilling sprint as the Welshwoman collected her first individual medal at a senior track world championships.
"I went ever so slightly too soon and that probably cost me the win," Barker said.
"I was just not fast enough. Congratulations to her but I'm really disappointed."
Team pursuit bronze chance
In the men’s team pursuit, Great Britain Cycling Team secured a spot in Thursday’s bronze-medal ride against Italy.
Chris Latham, Andy Tennant, Mark Stewart and Ollie Wood stopped the clock in 3:56.796 in round one to keep their medal hopes alive.
Earlier, Tennant, Wood, Steven Burke and Kian Emadi had qualified in fifth in 3:58.936.
In the women’s event, Manon Lloyd, Emily Kay, Emily Nelson and Ellie Dickinson also qualified in fifth with a personal best time of 4:21.548.
The Great Britain women's team pursuit squad set a time of 4:21.449 - they are the fifth fastest qualifiers and ride again tomorrow
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) April 12, 2017
pic.twitter.com/bw0sjbJBXa
They go into Thursday’s round one with a chance of making the bronze-medal final as Lloyd, Kay and Dickinson all made their world championships debuts.
Agony for men’s team sprint
Jack Carlin, Ryan Owens and Joe Truman narrowly missed out on a medal ride in the team sprint.
The trio - who won two gold medals in the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup - lost out to the Netherlands in round one by less than two-hundredths of a second, a time of 43.666 seconds.
They earlier set a time of 43.416 to qualify in third but it was not to be for the trio – all making their debuts at a senior track world championships.
Disappointed to miss a medal ride but we learn/move on together, lots to take away from our first world champs...@jack_carlin97 @ryanowens0
— Joe Truman (@JoeTruman97) April 12, 2017
Truman said: “We’ve got a good group of guys, fantastic support team. We came with the form of our lives and haven’t really been able to execute really. We win as a team, we lose as a team, we’ll move on from this.”
Carlin added: "I think as a team we’ve come here with not much expectation. We’re obviously all disappointed. There were better teams than us today. There were positives and negatives, but a lot of positives to take away today."
Thursday sees Great Britain race in the men's team pursuit, women's team pursuit, men's keirin, men's scratch race and women's sprint events.
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