Published: Thursday 3 August 2023
Images: SWPix
Will Tidball and tandem duo Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl were crowned track cycling world champions on the first day of competition at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, while the women’s team sprint squad took a sensational silver, and the men’s B individual pursuit and women’s B 1km time-trial riders claimed bronze in a dream start at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
Up in Fort William, the juniors kicked off the downhill qualifying runs, with Aimi Kenyon finishing in second place.
Para-track cycling
Sophie Unwin and pilot Jenny Holl asserted their dominance in their first event of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships with an incredible win in the women’s B 1km time-trial. Unwin and Holl clocked a rapid time of 1:08.302 to beat the Australian pair by 0.06 seconds and win the rainbow stripes as Lizzi Jordan and Amy Cole took a brilliant bronze in their first world championships as a tandem pairing.
Unwin said:
“It was hard but every kilo is! I didn’t know the splits, I didn’t know the times that had been done before us so I was thinking ‘we’ve just got to go as hard as we can’. Having the crowd behind us was incredible.”
Scottish rider Holl added:
“There’s just no words that can do it justice - to win in this velodrome with my friends and family in the crowd and the loudest voice I could hear was my dad! It’s all I could have asked for and I’m just over the moon.”
After qualifying less than one hundredth of a second apart, Great Britain tandem pairings Steve Bate piloted by Chris Latham and Chris McDonald piloted by Adam Duggleby faced off in the men’s B individual pursuit bronze final, with Latham and Bate securing their places on the podium.
Jody Cundy kicked off the men’s C4 omnium with a world record in the 200m time-trial, clocking a blistering time of 10.427.
Sam Ruddock finished in a fantastic fourth place in the men’s C1 individual pursuit, while Ryan Taylor also claimed fourth in the C2 individual pursuit.
In the men’s C5 scratch race, Will Bjergfelt and Blaine Hunt worked well together to finish in fourth and sixth place, before both were unfortunately relegated down to 12th position for collusion.
Morgan Newberry placed ninth in the women’s C5 500m time-trial after a commendable ride.
Archie Atkinson finished seventh in the men’s C4 individual pursuit on his world championship debut, while Jody Cundy claimed 16th, with the sprinter racing out of his comfort zone in a bid for Paralympic qualification points.
The women’s C4 individual pursuit saw Kadeena Cox finish in ninth place and seasoned triathlete Hannah Moore claimed 12th.
Track
Will Tidball took his first world championship title with a magnificent ride in the men’s scratch race as the home crowd drove him home. Tidball remained calm throughout the race and unleashed his stealth on the final lap with an unbelievable sprint to take the rainbow jersey in an incredibly well timed race.
After his world championship win, Tidball said:
“It’s stuff dreams are made of - I haven’t caught my breath since coming off the track. My family and I have sacrificed so much to be here and to be a world champion in front of a home crowd, it doesn’t get much better than that.
“I just did my bit in that race. It’s easy to get excited and do too much and draw a lot of attention to yourself so everyone thinks you’re the strongest but luckily everyone forgot about me! It’s amazing.”
Lauren Bell, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane claimed a sensational silver medal in the women’s team sprint, breaking the British national record twice in the process. The Great Britain squad qualified fastest in 46.072, before taking on reigning world champions Germany in a battle for gold. The young trio just missed out on the gold, clocking 45.923 - a world record time if it wasn’t for the Germans smashing the world record to take gold.
Capewell said:
“It wasn’t a perfect execution so we know there’s a little bit more to come - the goal has always been Paris. It’s a little bittersweet considering it was so close in the end as well, but also mega proud of all the team because it’s an amazing result.”
Scottish rider Bell added:
“It’s amazing. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for a worlds on a home track - it’s the track where I learnt how to ride. The crowd has been amazing and given me so much support. When you walk up and the commentator says your name, the crowd goes crazy and it’s such a special feeling.”
In the women's individual pursuit, Neah Evans clocked a brilliant personal best time of 3:21.811 to put herself into the bronze medal ride against New Zealand’s Bryony Botha, but had to settle for fourth after a fantastic fight. Jess Roberts finished the 10th fastest qualifier after another personal best ride.
In the men’s team sprint, Ali Fielding, Hamish Turnbull and Joe Truman qualified sixth and will face third fastest Poland in tomorrow’s first round.
After looking like the men’s team pursuit squad were heading comfortably into the next round of qualifying, disaster struck for the defending world champions as Charlie Tanfield slipped out of the final bend. Unfortunately, the squad was unable to progress to the next stage of the competition.
Downhill mountain bike
Aimi Kenyon qualified second fastest in the junior women’s downhill, clocking a ferocious time of 5:22.905, while local rider Nina-Yves Cameron also qualified for tomorrow’s final in 6:07.546. 
In the junior men’s qualifications, Dom Platt secured a remarkable fourth place in 4:36.28, while Archie Townsend, Alfie Heming, Luca Thurlow, Rudi Eichhorn, Morgan Williams and Leo Frater all secured their places in tomorrow’s final after brilliant runs.
More medals are up for grabs on day two of the championships tomorrow in the track, para-track, and downhill mountain bike events. You can keep up to date with all the action across the British Cycling social media accounts @BritishCycling and #GlasgowScotland2023.
