|
Liam Phillips and Shanaze Reade created an historic double-double for Great Britain at the first round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Manchester, winning both Friday's time trial and Saturday's main event.
VIDEO REPLAY - Main event
VIDEO REPLAY - Time trial
British Cycling Olympic Podium Programme athletes Reade and Phillips found a different level to the competition on their home track, which hosted its first world-level competition.
Reade was unbeaten all night long, consistently getting the holeshot and never contested, matching her dominance produced in the time trial superfinal.
Reade confirmed it was an almost solitary performance, reliant on self-discipline and focus - a tough task against eight other riders on the gate.
"Even in the time trial, I didn't think about the win" Reade said.
"I just thought about completing each part of the track as close to ten-out-of-ten as possible, then I believed the result would take care of itself. Even on the start gate I only worried about myself, because if I can do the best I can do, I think that was going to win the race.
"I believed my start was good enough to win, in training we can look at the times every day, but in the final, when there was the crowd and eight other girls, using that mental strength and putting it all together - that's the biggest thing I'm happy about tonight. At the Olympics I wasn't able to put the start together that I wanted in the final but here, putting it all toghether in a solid lap, I was happy with that."
For Phillips it was a tougher start on the path toward his first ever world cup win, up against the best in the world he finished third in the first moto (in which he had the worst lane choice), but never looked back from there.
It was only in the semifinal that Phillips showed his true potential, unleashing a huge acceleration from turn one that distanced the field - and while in the final that was more anticipated, nobody could match, let alone exceed it.
After the race, Phillips analysed his performance, concluding what made the difference was his ability to produce power at cadence.
"It's something I've been working toward for a long time. I have family down here, it's as much a win for them as it is for me really." Phillips smiled.
"I wanted to get the job done for myself but it's nice to share that moment with everyone else.
"For me it was just a case of doing another lap, as good as I could. I knew from my time trial yesterday, if I'm out front it's going to be difficult to pass me. I think the inside was key to this weekend."
Alongside the headline performances, British Cycling's Olympic Academy Programme athletes also made encouraging progress through the rounds.
In a best-ever result for the Performance Programme, seven athletes made it through to the motos including Quilan Isidore and Charlotte Green from the Olympic Development Programme and from the Academy Dan McBride, Tre Whyte, Kyle Evans, Curtis Manaton and Abbie Taylor.
McBride, White, Evans, Green and Taylor both progressed again - but the men were eliminated in the quarterfinals, as the women were eliminated in the semifinals.
In two weeks the Performance Programme travels to Argentina for the second round of the world cup - British Cycling will have the team announcement soon.
Results
Elite men
Elite women
