The National Youth and Junior Track Championships will be running from Monday 8 August to Friday 12 August in Newport Velodrome, displaying the best young British talent on offer! For day-by-day updates, check out the below.
Day One
In the under 16s women’s individual pursuit, the women battled it out over a long morning, with Carys Lloyd fending off her competitors to take top podium, followed by Erin Boothman in second and Carys Blower in third.
After several qualification rounds and interesting tactics, the women’s junior sprint final saw Jodie Taylor pinch Kirsty Johnson to first place. Anna Whitworth Hay completed the podium in third.
In the men’s junior sprint, teammates Harry Radford and Benjamin Gill battled it out over repeated rounds for their place on the podium with Radford making it to the gold final. Oliver Aloul dominated the gold final, taking a comfortable win, with Radford finishing second, and Gill in third.
The under 16 men’s scratch race saw the leader of the pack changing every round, with several breakaways trying to take advantage, but were all reeled in to keep the peloton together. Sam Fisher showed his strength, putting the power down in the final corner to claim victory, closely followed by Rory Gravelle in second, and William Salter in third.
In the women’s junior points race, Grace Lister bagged herself a comfortable lead early on, taking the first two sprint rounds, and went on to win a further sprint round on her way to first place. Lowri Richards played the long game, sitting within the pack and taking the win on the final lap for double points to take second, while Holly Ramsey rounded off the podium in third.
Day Two
The second day of the championships started on a high, with Sam Fisher breaking the under 16 men's national record in the individual pursuit in a time of 2:13.00 during qualifying.
In the finals in the afternoon, Joshua Jackson faced William Salter in the battle for bronze with Jackson taking a comfortable victory. Fisher faced Finlay Tarling to see who would take the top step of the podium. Less than 0.1s separated the finishing times with Finlay taking first place.
The under 16s women's points race saw Erin Boothman take two points laps, giving her a comfortable lead. Carys Lloyd kept consistent, gaining points every lap. But it was on the penultimate points lap that Esther Wong got away, giving herself a half-lap lead on the rest of the pack and gaining her first points of the race. As the bell went for the final lap, the pack bared down shortening the gap, but Wong powered through to take the crucial 10 points and earning herself a podium spot. Boothman took first, while Lloyd came in second and Wong in third.
The junior women’s keirin was a quick and close competition, with the group staying tight throughout the race, and finishing on a photo finish to separate the podium. Kirsty Johnson was crowned victor, with Emily Burgess in second, and Emma Jeffers in third.
The final race of the day was the junior men’s scratch race and with a packed field, it was anyone’s to win. After battling it out lap after lap, Jed Smithson took first place, followed by Anthony Morris in second and Calum Moir in third.
Day Three
Ben Wiggins put the best time down in the junior men's individual pursuit qualifying rounds, and went on to face Callum Twelves, with Wiggins taking home the national jersey. Jed Smithson came in third.
The junior women’s scratch race had plenty of early breakaways, and by the final 10 laps, a three woman break of Grace Lister, Ella Jamieson, and Eilidh Shaw were half a lap up on the peloton. Izzy Sharp went out on her own to catch up with the breakaway, successfully clawing back the lead. By the time the final corner came the pack of four stayed tight with Lister taking first, Sharp in second and Shaw in third.
The women’s under 16 sprint saw Lucy Glover crowned the national champion after two intense sprint finishes, with Sarah Johnson taking second. Georgette Rand beat Carys Blowers in the bronze final, to take third.
In the men’s under 16 sprint, William Gilbank and Tom Morrissey battled it out over several heats, each taking victories, but it was Morrissey who came out on top. In the gold final, he faced Oliver Pettifer, with Morrissey comfortably taking first place.
In the bronze final, just half a bike length separated the racers with Adam Murray rounding off the podium in third.
Day Four
The morning on day four saw Anna Whitworth Hay win gold in the junior women’s 500m TT Final, with Kirsty Johnson in silver, and Jodie Taylor taking bronze.
The fiercely competitive junior men’s keirin followed, with Benjamin Gill putting in a dominant performance to take first place, while Daniel Cutler took second, and Oliver Pettifer came in third.
In the under 16 women’s scratch race, the peloton stayed together, leaving it until the final lap where Cat Ferguson put the power down to take the win in a mass sprint finish, closely followed by Lucy Glover in second and Erin Boothman in third.
In a points race littered with breakaways, Sam Fisher continued to steadily gain points on his way to taking his second national champions jersey of the week. William Gilbank made it on the podium today, after giving everything all week, gaining a well-deserved silver medal, with third place going to Dylan Sage.
Brother UK are having an impressive week with their latest victory in the junior women’s madison that saw Grace Lister and Izzy Sharp seamlessly handover to take the national titles, followed by Emma Jeffers and Awen Roberts in second, and Imogen Wolff and Esther Wong taking third.
In a dramatic close to the day, the junior men’s madison took place over 120 laps. It was a tight, fiercely competitive race that came to an abrupt stop with 40 laps to go, with a nasty crash stopping the race for well over an hour, and ended with a brave William Smith heading to hospital.
The race continued in now a 40-lap all-out sprint. Noah Hobbs and Josh Tarling went on to take first place, followed by Jed Smithson and Ben Wiggins in second and Olivier Mangham and Dylan Hicks rounding off the podium in third.
Day Five
The final day of the National Youth and Junior Track Championships saw a closely fought under 16 women's 500m TT, with Georgette Rand take first place, followed by Sarah Johnson in second, and Lucy Glover in third.
The junior men’s kilo saw just 0.32 seconds separating the podium places. Noah Hobbs took gold, Calum Moir took second, and Bo Mayer took his first podium of the week in third.
The under 16 men’s 500m TT final had Tom Morrissey taking first place, Oliver Pettifer taking second, and Adam Murray in third.
Izzy Sharp dominated the junior women’s individual pursuit, taking a comfortable win, with Holly Ramsey taking second, and Ella Jamieson in third.
The under 16 women’s Madison saw Cat Ferguson and Carys Lloyd work seamlessly together to gain a powerful lead on their way to the top podium, with Imogen Wolff and Esther Wong in second. Isabel Mayes and Mari Morton rounded off the podium in third.
Having already both claimed national champions jerseys in the week, Sam Fisher and Finlay Tarling worked together in the under 16’s men's Madison, securing first place to make it a hattrick of wins. Seb Grindley and Joshua Jackson followed in second, with Rory Gravelle and William Salter taking bronze.
The junior men’s points race rounded off a fantastic week of racing with a bang. After the first half, a breakaway formed of four riders got away, maintaining their lead with Josh Tarling showing his dominance and strength by staying at the front and building his points tally. Tarling ended up lapping the field on his way to first place, while Calum Moir followed in second. The race for third and fourth had Ben Wiggins and Callum Twelves equal on points, with Wiggins claiming the bronze position.
