Revised: July 2021
- DOB
- 07/09/1994
- From
- Cardiff
- Based
- Manchester
- Social Links
Elinor's Profile
Biography
Elinor and younger sister Megan were first attracted to the sport after seeing cyclists from their local club, Maindy Flyers, finish track sessions as the sisters were leaving swimming practice. Their mild interest in cycling quickly blossomed and would lead to massive international success.
Her performances, including a junior time trial title on the road, quickly earned her a place on the Olympic Development Programme although it would be 2013, and the completion of her A-level exams at school in South Wales, before Barker would move to Manchester and a permanent home at the National Cycling Centre.
Rainbow on the road
By 2012, Barker was beginning to make a name for herself on the international stage, winning her first rainbow jersey on the road, rather than the track, taking the Women’s junior time trial title by a massive 35 seconds in the UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, Netherlands. But naturally, Barker was also an emerging talent on the track, as she proved in Anadia, Portugal, earlier in the year when she won double gold, in the individual pursuit and team pursuit, at the UEC European Junior Track Championships.
The end of 2012 also saw Barker, at the age of only 18, move up successfully to the elite senior level, at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup where she first won silver riding for a Welsh team in the Cali round and then took her first gold in Glasgow with Dani King and Laura Kenny (then Trott).
They were three names that would become very familiar to British Cycling fans over the coming months although the women’s team pursuit was about to undergo a radical change with the event changing from a three to four rider event in the coming months.
Those early results also started an incredible run of success for Barker at UCI Track World Cup meetings which, by the time the re-scheduled Tokyo Olympics came around in 2021, had seen her win 22 medals, 13 in the team pursuit (including nine golds) and nine in individual races (three golds).
The women’s team pursuit was still three-rider when Barker won her first senior title in February 2013, at the UCI World Track Championships in Minsk, Belarus, riding with King and Kenny - it was the first of eight consecutive appearances the Welsh rider would make at the Worlds, going home with at least one medal from every single competition.
If you have been inspired to get on a bike...
Selected Career Highlights to Date
Results
2020
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Berlin (Germany)
Gold, points race
Silver, team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships, Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Gold, Elimination
UEC European Track Championships, Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Gold, Team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships, Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Bronze, Madison
2019
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Pruszkow (Poland)
Gold, scratch race
UEC European Track Championships, Glasgow
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Glasgow
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Glasgow
Silver, Madison
2018
Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast (Australia)
Gold, Points race
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Apeldoorn (Netherlands)
Silver, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Minsk (Belarus)
Silver, Omnium
Silver, Scratch race
UEC European Track Championships, Berlin (Germany)
Gold, Madison
UEC European Track Championships, Berlin (Germany)
Silver, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Milton (Canada)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Milton (Canada)
Gold, Madison
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London (UK)
Gold, Team pursuit
2017
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Manchester (UK)
Gold, Madison
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Pruszkow (Poland)
Silver, Madison
UEC European Track Championships, Berlin (Germany)
Gold, Madison
Silver, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Tseung Kwan O (Hong Kong)
Gold, Points race
Silver, Madison
Silver, Scratch race
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Los Angeles (USA)
Bronze, Scratch race
2016
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Apeldoorn (Netherlands)
Gold, Points race
UEC European Track Championships, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France)
Silver, Scratch race
Olympic Games, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, London (UK)
Bronze, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Tseung Kwan O (Hong Kong)
Silver, Team pursuit
2015
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cali (Colombia)
Bronze, Team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships, Grenchen (Switzerland)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France)
Silver, Team pursuit
2014
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London (UK)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Guadalajara (Mexico)
Gold, Team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships, Guadaloupe (France)
Gold, Team pursuit
Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (UK)
Silver, Points race
Bronze, Scratch race
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Cali (Colombia)
Gold, Team pursuit
2013
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Aguascalientes (Mexico)
Gold, Team pursuit,
Silver, Individual pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Manchester (UK)
Gold, Team pursuit
UEC European Track Championships, Apeldoorn (Netherlands)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Minsk (Belarus)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Aguascalientes (Mexico)
Bronze, Team pursuit
2012
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Glasgow (UK)
Gold, Team pursuit
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cali (Colombia)
Silver, Team pursuit
UCI Road World Championships, Limburg (Netherlands)
Gold, Time-trial (Junior)
UCI Junior Track World Championships, Invercargill (New Zealand)
Silver, Omnium
Silver, Individual pursuit
Bronze, Team pursuit
European Junior and U23 Track Championships, Anadia (Portugal)
Gold, Team pursuit (Junior)
Gold, Individual pursuit (Junior)
2011
UCI Road World Championships, Copenhagen (Denmark)
Silver, Time trial (Junior)
