The Archibald family stole the show on the second day of the HSBC UK | National Track Championships, as brother and sister Katie and John each tasted glory.
WHAT A FINISH!
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) January 27, 2018
This is simply sensational from @_katiearchibald to win the British scratch race title.
Watch this#TrackChamps pic.twitter.com/i3hKjVIvgU
Katie claimed her second national title in as many days by winning gold in a thrilling women’s scratch race, while John won his maiden national crown thanks to a brave solo attack in the men’s points race.
CHAMPION!
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) January 27, 2018
Another Archibald medal as @jjzarchibald wins the British points race title - taking a lap to the delight of the crowd!#TrackChamps pic.twitter.com/wtGnj8fqKk
The scratch saw Corrine Hall, Jenny Holl and Crystal Lane-Wright form a three-rider breakaway as the race entered its final stages, but they were caught by the pack with two laps to go. Elinor Barker led the charge for gold, but was overtaken in the home straight by Archibald and eventual silver and bronze medallists Ellie Dickinson and Emily Nelson.
The very next title decided on the track also went to an Archibald, as John – who also medalled in the individual pursuit yesterday – broke away from the rest of the field in the men’s points race. Roared on by the crowd, his courageous attack was rewarded by 20 points for a lap gain, consolidating his position at the top of the leaderboard.
It was a lead that was never seriously challenged, with the remaining medals decided on the final sprint – Ethan Hayter collected a maximum ten points to take silver ahead of Fred Wright.
Team KGF’s Archibald explained afterwards: “I’m ecstatic – really over the moon. I could feel the crowd urging me on, I had my sister on the sidelines and my team-mates on the other side – I could feel it, and it definitely helped.
“Katie’s scratch race was incredible. I was getting goosebumps watching it, so I was already on an adrenaline high before I even got to my race and I thought I had a lot to live up to!”
Katie added: “I think I got a bit over-excited watching John’s race – I’ve never actually felt that excited about another person’s race. I didn’t realise how much I can care when someone’s in that much pain!
There was yet more Scottish success in the men’s sprint, as Jack Carlin was victorious over Lewis Oliva in the final. His 2-0 margin of victory was replicated in the bronze medal final, where Matt Rotherham beat Alex Spratt.
Carlin takes it!@jack_carlin97 manages to come around @Lewis_Oliva to secure the British sprint #TrackChamps pic.twitter.com/KP03itveCO
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) January 27, 2018
The men’s kilo provided another sensational spectacle for the packed crowd - Sportcity Velo’s Rotherham set the standard with a time of 1:01:948, but soon saw that effort bettered by Joe Truman. Both Callum Skinner and Kian Emadi threatened but ultimately fell short of beating the leading time of 1:01:142, leaving defending champion Dan Bigham and Rotherham’s brother Tom as the only two riders left able to take the title off Truman.
The tension around the final heat was heightened after Bigham required a restart, but despite admirable performances from both riders, they were unable to dislodge Truman, Skinner and Emadi from the podium spots.
CHAMPION! @JoeTruman97 is British kilo champion! A great ride in 1:01.142 for the title. #TrackChamps pic.twitter.com/eZHWlG260p
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) January 27, 2018
Afterwards Truman said: “I’m really happy. Whatever happened after my heat, I was going to be pretty happy because of my time – it was a PB by a couple of tenths – so even if I was out of the medals at the end I could still come away fairly pleased with that, but to come away with the win is a bonus.”
The women’s keirin title went to Jess Crampton, as she narrowly outsprinted both defending champion Sophie Capewell (bronze) and Lauren Bate (silver) to claim a national title for the second successive year.
Team Breeze were the class act in the women’s team pursuit field – the quartet of Abigail Dentus, Jenny Holl, Becky Raybould and Jessica Roberts qualified over 13 seconds quicker than anyone else, and were similarly dominant in the final, catching Team Backstedt Hot-Chillee (Elynor Backstedt, Isabel Ellis, Lucy Nelson, Ellie Russell) after 2,500m.
Despite having sewn up the gold due to the catch, the impressive quartet completed their 4km to record a time of 4:36:320.
First British title!
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) January 27, 2018
Team @HSBCUKBreeze's @jenny_holl and @JessRoberts_99 were delighted to get a champion's jersey after winning the team pursuit. #TrackChamps pic.twitter.com/fmT3jVRUmz
Liv CC-Halo Cycles (Ella Barnwell, Anna Docherty, Pfeiffer Georgi and Amelia Sharpe) were third, stopping the clock at 4:45:885 in the bronze medal final to ensure victory over Cycle Team on Form A (Anna Henderson, Gabriella Homer, Kate Wootton and Jessica Woodworth).
In the mixed para-cycling C 1-5 pursuit event, Louis Rolfe was crowned champion ahead of Jon Gildea and Katie Toft, with the top five riders separated by a little over a second once factoring was taken into account.
Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall topped the podium in the B pursuit event - the Paralympic champions taking gold with Laura Cluxton and Emma Baird in second and Jack Garner and Joshua Dunham claiming bronze.
