WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Wheels of glory
Britain lead way in cycling as Archibald and Nelson storm to gold in the Madison and Carlin secures sprint silver
A brilliant gold medal in the Madison from Katie Archibald and late substitute Emily Nelson, swiftly followed by a hugely impressive silver in the men’s sprint from 20-year-old Jack Carlin, gave British Cycling a boost on the penultimate night of the Track World Championships in Apeldoorn.
It has been a tough week for cycling’s national governing body – and it is about to get tougher still with the release of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee report into doping – but it is turning into a highly successful one on the track.
That is now six medals this week, five of them in Olympic disciplines. British Cycling’s UK Sport baseline target for 2018 was three, rising to four with the road world championships later in the year.
GB have reached that already with the possibility of more to come today with Elinor Barker defending her world points crown. Barker’s fitness is a slight unknown. She was meant to partner Archibald in the Madison last night but had to pull out on medical grounds after the heavy crash she suffered during her omnium on Friday.
That only made the performance of Archibald and Nelson – who set a personal best in the individual pursuit earlier in the day – even more impressive.
The British pair timed their attacks and changes brilliantly, claiming maximum points in eight successive sprints, with Archibald consistently rolling Dutch star Kirsten Wild. GB finished with 50 points – 15 ahead of secondplaced Holland – to claim Britain’s second gold in Apeldoorn. Italy took bronze.
Archibald revealed later that she had popped two new skinsuits before the race trying to get them on, but once the race was under way, the pair had complemented each other perfectly.
The Madison rewards teams who can “gain a lap” on the rest, while riders sprint for intermediate points every 10 laps. “We’re both good top end speed and a long sprint,” explained the Scot. “If it went down to lap gains it wasn’t really our bag, but [our styles] meant we could ‘repeat play’ the type we have. We ripped the a--- out of it!”
A late attack by the Dutch and Italy briefly had GB worried, but they managed to close it down. “It’s dangerous [riding like that] because if it does go bang we would have been in trouble,” Archibald said. “I looked up with eight laps to go and thought ‘Uh-oh’.”
Nelson said it would “take a while” for her first world title to sink in. The 21-year-old, who won silver alongside Barker this time last year, said: “I was pretty nervous knowing I’d already raced [earlier in the day]. My legs were really hurting the whole race but I think they’re supposed to. It’s pretty amazing. It’s going to take a while for that to sink in.”
Carlin, meanwhile, a 20-year-old from Paisley in Scotland, was not expected to get anywhere near the medal races in the men’s sprint: one of the sport’s blue riband events and a former stamping ground for Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, of course.
He eventually went down 2-0 to Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer, throwing up in the track centre afterwards.
It was welcome success with British Cycling facing the likelihood of another grilling when the DCMS publishes its long-awaited report into doping tomorrow.
While none of those who are competing in Holland this weekend are implicated the scrutiny on British Cycling rose on Friday when it was alleged that the General Medical Council, as part of its investigation into Richard Freeman, former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor, had uncovered evidence that suggested a batch of testosterone which arrived at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester had actually been ordered by someone at British Cycling, rather than turned up by accident, as Freeman claimed.
That allegation may well lead to a new UK Anti-Doping investigation, if it has not already. Ukad is not currently commenting. It is unclear whether those testosterone patches delivered in 2011 will feature. But the report is likely to be scathing over the conduct of British Cycling and Team Sky in the case of the infamous jiffy bag sent to Sir Bradley Wiggins shortly before the 2011 Tour de France, which was the subject of a 14-month investigation by Ukad.
While Ukad was unable to establish the veracity of Sky’s claim that the package contained a decongestant, Damian Collins MP – one of whose main purposes in launching the inquiry was to establish the effectiveness of Ukad as a body – may well have unearthed new evidence.
Wiggins’s poor medical recordkeeping and the team’s use of cortisone out of competition – legal but in many eyes unethical – are all likely to come under scrutiny.
British Cycling has so far declined to comment. Wiggins has always denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
Even before last night, British Cycling had had an encouraging week here in Apeldoorn, where young riders such as 19-year-old Ethan Hayter and 21-year-old Charlie Tanfield have emerged as serious prospects.
Those two were part of the British quartet who claimed team pursuit gold on Thursday. There were also silver medals for GB women’s team pursuit – featuring Laura Kenny, back from giving birth in record time – and a men’s team sprint trio that included six-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny.
Unfortunately, the positivity will be overshadowed by a saga that is yet to hit its peak; a saga that has already claimed numerous victims but could still claim many more.