Elinor Barker and Neah Evans stormed to the Madison silver medal after a dramatic final few laps while Jack Carlin soared to the bronze in the men’s individual sprint at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.

The Madison silver confirmed that every Team GB track cyclist will return home with a medal.

Women’s Madison

Elinor Barker and Neah Evans claimed a sensational silver medal after a brilliant finish in the women’s Madison race.

The 120 lap race saw Barker line up first, putting the pressure on the front in the first sprint and taking the win and five points. Settling back into the bunch, marked closely by France, the British duo just missed out on the second round of points in sixth place, but continued to work at the front and put the pressure on the bunch with a blistering pace.

With 93 laps to go, Evans kicked hard, slingshotting Barker perfectly into the third sprint lap, but was chased down by France to take three points, putting the two nations joint first. Barker continued to keep the pace high after the sprint, stringing out the peloton further, and made a brilliant change to Evans to see the Brits get a small gap coming into the fourth sprint. A hard chase from Denmark saw the British pair gain another three points, which was enough to secure the sole lead.

The next two sprints saw the British pair just miss out on the points, with the USA leading the standings. The Dutch pair then made the first real attempt to get away with 58 laps remaining. The Brits chased with the USA and Japan in tow, but it soon settled down as the seventh sprint lap edged closer. The Netherlands were half a lap up to take maximum points, with the Brits retaking the lead with two more points in the sprint.

The Dutch moved into the gold medal position with 47 laps remaining, having gained a lap, while the British women continued to be marked in their attempts to escape. Denmark were the next to attack, with the Brits forced to respond, chasing them down quickly. Evans overtook the Danes and did a huge sprint to take those all-important five points and bolster their silver medal position in the standings.

Italy were the next to gain a lap, moving into the gold medal position and pushing Britain down to the bronze, before Belgium made their move in an attempt to gain a lap. The British duo took two more points in the sprints, before France and the Netherlands made the chase over to Belgium, bringing the peloton back together.

Missing out on points in the ninth sprint, it was all to play for in the final nine laps. Denmark made a last gasp attempt to attack off the front, with Britain chasing hard and overtaking with two laps to go. Evans stormed round the final 500m, taking the maximum 10 points to move into the silver medal position after an incredible effort.

Speaking after the podium, Barker said:

“Madison’s are hectic by design! At one point, we slipped out of medal contention, and I was pretty much on my last legs, so it feels like a bit of a blur. I’m so happy that we managed to have a good final 10 laps and get that high score at the end to bring us back into the medals. I couldn’t be happier with this round my neck!”

Evans added:

“It’s incredible! I know it’s not technically our home crowd, but it feels like it is. It’s so loud and especially during the final 10 laps, we were both blowing and yet the crowd could see what we were doing and were right behind us. It’s just such an incredible feeling.”

Men’s individual sprint

Jack Carlin claimed a consecutive Olympic bronze medal in the men’s individual sprint after a drama-filled final.

In the semi-finals, Carlin faced off against world champion Harrie Lavreysen and, despite the Brit’s skill and speed, was unable to catch the flying Dutchman in two rides to enter the bronze medal final.

Coming up against Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands), the first match sprint saw the Dutch rider bite first and attack out the saddle, but Carlin was straight on his wheel, and used the slingshot round the final bend to just edge out Hoogland for the first win.

In the second race, Carlin led from the front, and sprinted first, diving down from the blue line, but Hoogland managed to get round and pinch the victory to make it 1-1.

The deciding race was restarted after a wheel slip from Carlin. A tense start the second time around saw the pair watching each other closely, marking every move. As they came up to speed, with both riders playing all over the track, Carlin dived and powered away. Hoogland looked to be closing, but the Scotsman held his nerve and took it all the way to the line to take an emotional bronze medal. 

Speaking after the race, Carlin said: 

"That was probably the hardest sprint competition I’ve ever done, mentally as well. Today, Harrie was way too strong. Fundamentally, I raced two of my best races I’ve ever done against Harrie, and he still came out on top. 

“In the bronze, it was tough going and in the last one, my front wheel when I went up slipped out and I had to lean in and it took me up further than I wanted to up the track. Luckily the comms made us restart it and Jeffrey obviously picked his preferred position. I had to race it from one, when if I’m being honest, I’d have rather raced it from two. I wanted to get Jeffrey going and I managed to hold on for it and give it everything I could. It was my fastest sprint of the day, which is also really positive. Credit to Jeffrey, he took it really well, and he’s a good sportsman.

“I felt a bit out of sorts the last couple of days. I don’t think the occasion got to me, but I think maybe my expectations were a little bit too high. I just tried to compose myself and I managed to get there in the end. I managed to get out on top, so Jack won today, not the head. 

“My family have supported me a lot. It’s not been an easy couple of months. Because of that, my support network has been massive and has got me through to the start line today. I am really chuffed.” 

Women’s individual sprint

Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell kicked off their individual sprint campaigns, with both making it through to the 1/8 finals tomorrow.

Finucane qualified second fastest, clocking a British record in 10.076, just behind Lea Sophie Friedrich (Germany) who broke the world record in 10.029. Capewell qualified fourth on 10.132, with both British riders beating the previous world record time. 

In the first round of match sprints, Finucane and Capewell both took wins with ease to sail through to the 1/16 finals. Finucane next took on Steffie van der Peet (Netherlands), and was closely challenged in the final lap, but came into the final straight well ahead. Capewell also had a tough battle with Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez (Mexico) but managed to wrestle her way to the win.

Finucane will face Kristina Clonan (Australia) in tomorrow’s 1/8 finals, while Capewell will take on Shaane Fulton (New Zealand).

The 15th day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will see the women’s individual sprint continue and the start of the men’s keirin, while there will be more thrilling bunch racing action in the men's Madison.

You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 15:45 BST and follow the results on the British Cycling social media channels.