It was a terrific week for the nine Welsh riders who were part of Great Britain team as they won a combined total of eight medals between them as they competed in the 2019 UEC Track Juniors & Under 23 European Championships in Ghent last week.
With the best junior and under-23 riders from across Europe heading to Belgium for the games it was always going to be tough competition for the GB squad which included a whole host of Welsh riders.
But across the board it was a superb week for the GB squad and for those Welsh riders involved it was extra sweet as between them they bagged an impressive eight medals.
Finucane leads the way with three medals
For first year, Emma Finucane getting selected for the 2019 UEC Track Juniors & Under 23 European Championships was a big achievement, but come the end of the week the 16 year-old was travelling back with three medals to her name after some impressive performances.
“I have no words to describe the week I just had! I went into it as a first year with no expectations, I was just expecting to do my best,” explained Emma.
With her partner Charlotte Robinson, they powered to a silver in the junior women’s team sprint behind Poland – and that result seemed to be a catalyst for Emma as she went on to claim more success.
“After claiming silver in the team sprint with Charlotte I knew in the next few races there might be a chance of podiuming,” said Emma. Little did she know that in the junior women 500m time trial she would be victorious beating Alessa-Catriona Propster (Germany) to the gold.
When it came to the individual sprint, Propster was the victor as Finucane had to settle for the silver. “I am speechless and so happy that I had the amazing support from British cycling to achieve what I did,” said an ecstatic Emma.
Elsewhere Ella Barnwell had a games to remember as she bagged silver alongside teammates Elynor Backstedt, Eluned King and Sophie Lewis in the team pursuit and then completed the double in Omnium, whilst also posting a fifth in the individual pursuit.
Speaking about the tactics around her Omnium win, Ella said: “I was pretty calm that day because I knew I had form and had the legs for it.
“I went into the scratch race and took the win which was great and then got marked by people in the other races which made the racing even harder as I had to think about a number of things as well as trying to win each race,” the 18 year-old continued.
Before heading into the points race Ella was only four points behind the eventual winner Eleonara Camilla Gasparrini (Italy) but it wasn’t to be as the Italian extended her lead to take the gold. “It feels amazing to come away from the European track champs with two silvers and a 5th,” said Ella.
“I really couldn’t have done it without all the support from welsh cycling in the past few weeks. I’m looking forward now to next year and hopefully riding the under-23 euros,” she continued.
Imperious Elynor comes two tenths of a second away from a Junior WR in the Individual pursuit
For Backstedt winning races and winning medals is becoming part and parcel of the day job, and out in Gent she continued to impress in GB colours by taking two golds and a silver.
The first of her golds was in the individual pursuit where she beat Iara Gillespie (Ireland) and Alessio Camilla (Italy) whilst nearly breaking the existing junior world record. But her time of 2.18.288 was just two tenths of second away.
Speaking about the week, Elynor said: “The week has been an amazing experience and I’ve learned so much. It’s been such an amazing experience.”
Her second gold was with her GB partner Lewis as they triumphed in the Madison, beating the Dutch pairing of Daniek Hengeveld and Maike Van Der Duin.
Roberts continues her impressive form by bagging gold in the Omnium
Moving into the under-23 competition Jess Roberts who has had a standout year to date continued her impressive form by taking the Omnium crown in dominate fashion ahead of Clara Copponi (France) and Daria Pikulik (Poland).
Bridges and Britton round off an impressive week for the Welsh riders
As for the junior and under-23 males despite not picking up medals they still put in some top performances. In the junior competition, Zach Bridges was 6th in the individual pursuit whilst Rhys Thomas also finished 6th in the sprint.
For Ethan Vernon and Rhys Britton they were outside the medals in the team pursuit alongside teammates Matthew Walls and Fred Wright as they had to settle for fifth place. And in the scratch race Britton rounded off the top ten.
Welsh Cycling Performance Director, Matt Cosgrove said: “To have nine young Welsh riders selected to ride for Great Britain at this prestigious event was great to see. The fact that they are coming home with 8 medals between them and some very encouraging performances under their belts is particularly pleasing.”
Image credit - UEC Track Juniors & Under 23 European Championships
