Great Britain win double team pursuit gold in Glasgow

Great Britain win double team pursuit gold in Glasgow

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Published
4 November 2016
Written by
Aaron Gales
Images
SWPix

Great Britain Cycling Team enjoyed a dream night at the Glasgow Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup with gold medals in the men’s and women’s team pursuits on Friday.

In front of a sold out crowd two new-look teams dominated the event, highlighting just how bright the future of the Great Britain Cycling Team is.

It was a female quartet with an average age of 19, and consisting of Emily Kay, Emily Nelson, Ellie Dickinson and Manon Lloyd who were the first to hear the national anthem with a time of 4:25.809 seeing them finish almost two seconds clear of the Italian team of Simone Frapporti, Elisa Balsamo, Francesca Pattaro and Maria Giulia.

It was the first time any of the team had won a gold medal at senior world cup level and saw them continue the form they had shown in securing a bronze medal at the European Track Cycling Championships in Paris.

After the race Kay paid tribute to the support of the home crowd.  “Every team works incredibly hard, but to have the crowd here every time you go down the straight, to hear them shout really gives you that extra bit of energy that you didn’t know you had and we can’t thank them enough for cheering us all the way through.”

Nelson added: “I think we’re all really happy. To come away with a gold medal from a world cup is something really special.”

In the men’s team pursuit Andy Tennant returned to the line-up alongside Kian Emadi, Mark Stewart and Ollie Wood after being rested for this afternoon’s semi-final, replacing Matt Bostock.

Up against the recently crowned European champions, France, the result was never in doubt with the team up from the very first lap, a lead which they never relinquished, an impressive time of 3.58.891 keeping them over a second clear of their opponents.

“Yeah it was really special," Mark Stewart said.

"It’s not often you actually get to race on home soil so to do it with your friends and family in the stands watching, it’s really nice to kind of deliver and win."

After being defeated in his semi-final by Pavel Yakushevskiy there was a chance of a bronze medal for 21 year old sprinter Ryan Owens, but despite two desperately close rides he just missed out going down 2-0 to Ukraine’s Andrii Vynokurov.  

It was still an incredibly encouraging day for the 21-year-old, who was competing in his first senior world cup. He had qualified second fastest in the morning session to book himself a place in the 1/8 final. 

He then came up against fellow Great Britain Cycling Team rider, Joe Truman and after going 1-0 down in the first leg, Owens showed great composure to win the next two legs and book his place in the semi-final.

Despite being disappointed to miss out on a medal Owens was pleased with his recent progress.

“It’s the second time I’ve been second in qualifying in the last few weeks but last time I came away with seventh place and this time it’s fourth so it’s moving in the right direction. Bit disappointed to not win a race this evening but the guys I’m racing against are beyond the level I’ve ever raced against before up until Euros and here so I’ve got to be happy.

 “I keep having to pinch myself, it’s like every month I have to realign where my goals are in my head and I sometimes need to take a step back and look at it from a broader perspective and be happy with what I’ve achieved instead of kicking myself for every little mistake but hopefully it’s just the start.”

Owens will return to action in the team sprint on Sunday alongside Jack Carlin and Joe Truman.

Results

Men's team pursuit

Women's team pursuit

Men's sprint

Gallery

Glasgow 2016/17 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup - Day one

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