Kenny secures comeback win on return to the track

Omnium win gives GB selectors headache ahead of Worlds

Laura Kenny made a victorious return to the track at the weekend, securing the national omnium title in Derby. Kenny, riding for Matrix Pro Cycling, was riding her first competitive race since giving birth to son Albert in August last year.

However, it was clear that the time away from competition hadn’t slowed her down as she secured victory in dominant fashion. The four-time Olympic gold medallist racked up 166 points, comfortably beating Jessica Roberts’s total of 132 points and Neah Evans, who accrued 120.

Matthew Walls took the men’s crown at the Derby velodrome, beating Team KGF’S Harry Tanfield and fellow 100% Me team-mate Joe Holt. Tanfield’s brother Charlie will be joining Kenny in the British team at the Track World Championships, which start next week in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

Kenny’s impressive comeback has certainly given the British team selectors a headache in which rider they are going to select for the omnium at the Worlds. With only one spot in the omnium up for grabs, BC must decide on whether to choose the reigning world omnium champion Katie Archibald or go with the two-time reigning Olympic omnium champion, and now national champion, Kenny. Despite the win, it wasn’t the only notable story from Kenny’s week as she received the unusual news that a thoroughbred racehorse was named after her. Trainer Harry Dunlop, understandably, wanted to use Kenny’s maiden name of Trott, but the cyclist reportedly wanted the horse to have her married name, with Dunlop happy to oblige. The horse has been leased to a syndicate called Velocity Racing, whose members share passions for both cycling and horse racing. “We’d like to get Laura down to the yard; it would be lovely as that’s the whole point of our cycling syndicate — coming to see the horses and going cycling,” Dunlop said.