The UCI Junior World Track Championships will be running from Tuesday 23 August to Saturday 27 August, showcasing the best young talent on the track. For day-by-day updates, check out the below.
Day One
Kicking off the competition and representing Great Britain in the women’s 7.5km scratch race was Grace Lister, fresh from her Commonwealth Games debut last month. In a strong field, Grace positioned herself well from the beginning, and responded well to an attack from the Belgian riders with five and a half laps to go.
The Belgian attack spurred on the young rider who managed to use it to her advantage and stick with them. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the power to see it through to the end and was swallowed by the bunch with a lap to go, leaving her with a 15th place finish.
Emma Trott, junior academy coach, commented: “This is Grace’s first ever World Championships and to have the tenacity to try the move that she did is to be admired."
Grace will be competing again in the omnium on Thursday and alongside teammate Zoe Backstedt in the Madison on Saturday.
Day Two
Isabel Sharp took to the track on day two, in what would be a drama-filled women’s elimination race. While Sharp comfortably made her way to the front in the first couple of laps, an early crash neutralised the race, allowing the injured rider to re-enter the race.
Soon after, a larger crash took out nine riders at the back of the group, triggering a reg flag to be raised and the race to be stopped. After a few minutes where riders were given medical treatment track-side, all but one rider rejoined the group and the race re-started.
Sharp returned to the front of the race, staying comfortably in the front group with Ireland’s Erin Creighton, Ukraine’s Anna Kolyzhuk and Czech Republic’s Barbora Nemcova. Sina Temmen, of Germany, crashed after the 10th sprint, neutralising the race before she valiantly got back into the action.
As the final four riders fought it out to make the podium, Sharp managed to dig deep and made it across the line just ahead of Creighton, who finished in fourth, leaving Sharp to battle it out for medals with the Ukrainian and Czech riders.
However, after leading the penultimate sprint, the young Brit couldn’t quite hold on to the pace and was eliminated from the race, taking home a well-deserved bronze medal from a dominant performance - Great Britain’s first of the UCI Junior Track World Championships.
Day Three
Having won Omnium silver in the UEC Track Cycling U23 European Championships last month, Grace Lister returned to the track in great form for the women’s Omnium. In the first of four races, Grace started strong, working her way confidently to the front of the pack and keeping control of the 5km race. The race culminated in a third place finish for Lister, behind France’s Aurore Pernollet and Maja Tracka of Poland, kicking off her Omnium contest with 36 points.
The tempo race saw a strong performance from Lister, who controlled her pace and tactically managed the race to take a sensational first place finish to take another 40 points. After two races her total stood at 76, positioning her tied second overall with Pernollet.
After a strong start in the elimination race, an unfortunate crash took Lister out of the race and, unable to get back within the required five laps due to medical checks, she was unfortunately eliminated. This gave her an 11th place finish, adding 20 points to her total and leaving her in second place, 20 points behind Pernollet as she headed into the fourth and final race.
Not one to let the previous race get her down, Grace rode an impressive points race and came back fighting, bagging herself the bronze medal to end a classy all-round performance.
Day Four
In the penultimate day of competition, it was a double event day for Isabel Sharp, who would compete in the individual pursuit and the women’s 20km points race.
A strong start in the individual pursuit qualifiers saw her deliver the second fastest time, 2.968 seconds behind Federica Venturelli, which put her through to the gold medal race against the Italian.
After a 21st place finish in the afternoon’s points race, Sharp went into the individual pursuit final with determination, but this time it was not to be and after an impressive performance, came away with the silver medal.
Sharp finishes her weekend of competition with a bronze medal in the elimination race and silver in the individual pursuit.
Day Five
On the final day of competition in Tel Aviv, Grace Lister and Zoe Backstedt lined up to compete in the women's junior madison.
The duo dominated the race throughout, working together to collect points in seven of the eight sprints, winning four of them, as well as lapping the field to gain a 20 point advantage.
Lister and Backstedt were able to secure the world champion jersey, scoring 53 points in total - 11 points ahead of second placed Japan. Bronze went to the Netherlands on 13 points.
Overall, Great Britain took home four medals from the UCI Junior Track World Championships, with Isabel Sharp, Lister, and Backstedt all securing medals.
You can view all the results from the week here or on British Cycling social media channels.
