It really was a super Saturday for Great Britain, taking home six world titles, two silver and two bronze medals, making it the team’s most successful UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships ever, with another day of competition left to go.
1km Time Trial
Undefeated Jody Cundy remained just that after claiming an extraordinary 13th C4 world kilo title in a row. Not only has he continued an unprecedented run, he improved his 2020 time of 1:05.087 by over half a second - an incredibly impressive feat, by an all-time great rider.
On 13 world kilo titles. Cundy said, “I remember doing my first one and being happy to just make the team, so to win that title then was huge, so to be thirteen on the kilo alone is pretty special and considering the year I’ve had, it’s really nice to come away with a gold medal.”
It was a Great Britain one-two finish in the men’s C3 1km time trial as Jaco Van Gass won back to back world titles in 1:06.122, while Fin Graham took the silver medal with a time of 1:07.460. Earlier in the day, Van Gass kicked off the men’s C3 1km time trial with a bang, breaking his own world record set at Tokyo 2020 by four hundredths of a second, with a time of 1:05.525.
In the men’s C5 category, Blaine Hunt stormed to his first world title. Having qualified fourth, Hunt put out an impressive performance in the final with a fastest time of 1:04.292 to take the gold.
Following their world championships win in the tandem pursuit last night, Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl added a bronze medal to their collection in the women’s tandem 1km time trial. The duo qualified fourth with 1:08.407 but managed a faster time of 1:07.991 in the final, bagging them a second medal of the championships.
Debutants Libby Clegg and Georgia Holt took fourth place with a time of 1:08.324, while Lizzi Jordan piloted by Corrine Hall rounded out their first ever UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships together in fifth place.
Will Bjergfelt completed the men’s C5 1km with a time of 1:08.981 in qualifying, positioning him 16th which was where his event ended.
Individual Pursuit
C3 rider Daphne Schrager certainly made her mark, claiming her first world champion title in sensational style. Schrage qualified first, with a personal best time of 4:00.546, before heading into the gold medal race against Japan’s Keiko Sugiura. Sugiura initially led the final race by a considerable margin, but Schrager dug deep and pulled out an impressive second-half performance. The 21-year-old took the win with another personal best of 3:58.963, completing her first ever world championships as a world champion.
On her win, Schrager said, “I can’t believe it, I’m actually speechless. I didn’t really come in to today with may high expectations, I just wanted to make it into a final of some sort. To PB in the qualifier was something that’ll make my year, then to get into the gold medal ride, I couldn’t fathom it really. Going into the ride I was like ‘I’m just going to give it all I’ve got’, and here we are!”
Debutant Ryan Taylor delivered an incredible result in the men’s C2 individual pursuit, taking home his first ever para-track world championship medal. Qualifying third with a personal best time, Taylor headed into the bronze medal final against defending champion Ewoud Vromant and put out a confident and classy ride to win the bronze.
C1 rider Katie Toft continued her successful competition, taking the individual pursuit world title in a time of 4:42.609, shaving an incredible 14.691 seconds off the 2020 world champion’s time.
Seasoned stoker Steve Bate and debutant pilot Chris Latham took the men’s tandem pursuit world title in bitter sweet fashion. The pair qualified in second position, just behind current world record holders Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos of the Netherlands. An action-packed final ensued, with the competiors neck and neck, before a blown tyre took the Netherlands out of the race, leaving Great Britain to take the gold.
The relatively new pairing of world championships debutant Chris McDonald and experienced pilot Adam Duggleby delivered a personal best time of 4:16.989. However, it was not enough to take them through to a medal race and they finished in sixth place.
Sam Ruddock produced a strong fourth place ride in the C1 category with a time of 3:56.741, qualifying for the bronze medal ride against Germany’s Pierre Senska. In what was shaping up to be an impressive bronze medal-winning performance, Ruddock suffered an unfortunate crash on the final bend, taking him out of contention.
Women's C5 Scratch Race
Crystal Lane-Wright equalled her silver medal from the last world championships in 2020, finishing second in the women’s C5 10km scratch race. Lane-Wright went off the front with around 15 laps to go, working with Nicole Murray of New Zealand to keep ahead of the bunch. It was a sprint to the finish, but Lane-Wright couldn’t quite catch Murray and took the silver medal position.
Morgan Newberry rode a steady race, taking opportunities where they came and staying strong within the bunch, earning her a commendable sixth place finish.
