Neah Evans will ride for bronze in the Individual Pursuit on Saturday evening after a great ride in qualifying.
Evans was hard out of the gate, and set her stall out from the get go; at that stage in proceedings she was quickest at every split, a smooth ride seeing her home in 3.23.476 to break that Games record. In the end her time was bettered twice, meaning she’ll ride for the bronze medal this evening.
Of her efforts, she said:
“It’s a little bit bittersweet, as you always want to be riding for gold, but I’m really pleased with that ride. This isn’t something I normally focus on, as we put all our effort into the team pursuit, and a 2km TT would probably suit me better. I knew I had to get out hard and then just try and hang onto it. I’m looking forward to coming back tonight now and seeing what I can do.”
In the men’s equivalent, the 4000m Individual Pursuit, Scotland had three entrants, with highlander Kyle Gordon putting in the ride of his life to finish fifth. Going in the very last of the qualifying rides, he set is stall our from the get-go, and was in contention for a medal ride this evening for pretty much the entire ride. Just tiring slightly in the final couple of laps, he stopped the clock in 4.10.592, just a tenth outside his personal best, a performance he was rightly proud of.
An emotional Gordon said afterwards:
“I can’t explain – I’ve got no words. I’ve been on an incredible five year journey, making PB after PB and it’s incredible to finish it off here today, with a race that means so much to me and with everyone around me – I’m just so happy.”
John Archibald also came agonisingly close to a medal ride, just missing out as seventh fastest in the morning session. Churning a big gear as he always does, the Gold Coast medallist looked smooth the whole way, stopping the clock in 4.12.541. Jonny Wale got away cleanly at the second time of asking after a false start, and was unfazed going well through the first 2000m – he would eventually finish 15th. All three men will be back in action over the next two days.
Our team sprint trio of Iona Moir, Lauren Bell and Lusia Steele all went in the Women’s Individual Sprint on Saturday morning, and acquitted themselves superbly in the opening flying 200. First off was Moir who posted 11.193, followed by Steele in 11.171 and last but not least Bell, who went sub 11 with a 10.956. Such were the quality of those rides, they all advanced to the last 16.
An hour or so later they went in their head-to-head contests, and despite some extremely tight racing, especially from Bell, they all exited the competition at that stage. All three will be back in action tomorrow night in the 500m TT.
Make sure you tune in to the BBC from 16:00hrs to see Jack Carlin and Ali Fielding in keirin action, as well as Evans going for bronze at 16:42.
Full results can be found here
