The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dundee cyclist Mark Stewart looks back on World Cup efforts with pride
Mark Stewart will look back on the Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Manchester with mixed emotions – and some physical scars.
The opportunity to compete at world-level on home soil is a rare one for British cyclists, but it was a chance Stewart had been waiting some time for.
His weekend of racing couldn’t have got off to a worse start, crashing in the opening scratch race of the men’s omnium when set for a top-three finish.
But, in true British bulldog style, Stewart got back on his bike and pulled himself back into medal contention, finishing fifth in the tempo and third in the elimination race.
Midway through the final event, the points race, Stewart mounted a remarkable solo effort to pull himself to within a whisker of the medals, but in the end missed out.
However, Stewart can look back on his efforts with pride.
“After that crash I was so disappointed. I felt really good in that scratch and I know I would have got a top three.
“But that is bike racing, these things happen, so it was just a case of controlling the emotions and moving on to the next race.
“I’m proud of how I got back into it. To go from 17th to fifth just shows what I can do.
“I think if it had all gone well, I’ve no doubt I would have been on that podium.”
There was no rest for the 22-year-old, however, as he returned to the boards yesterday for the Madison alongside Chris Latham.
The British duo finished sixth and Stewart insists he won’t be forgetting his Manchester experience anytime soon.
“We can take a lot of positives from that performance, racing alongside the best guys in the world,” he said.
“We went in with not much expectation as such, but we just wanted to be part of the race and if our legs lasted until the end then that would be a bonus.
“I felt that we were in a good place during the early stages.
“We had a lot of right moves and I don’t think we did much wrong.
“We lacked physically, and I think after a whole-day omnium and my crash on Saturday, it took it out of me.
“I have absolutely loved competing in Manchester. I didn’t know what to expect but it definitely delivered.”
Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker collected their second gold medals of the weekend by helping Great Britain to a comfortable victory in the women’s team pursuit.
Archibald and Barker had been afforded a morning off after winning gold in the Madison on Saturday night, allowing Manon Lloyd and Emily Kay to help Neah Evans and Emily Nelson book Britain’s place in the gold medal race with a straightforward firstround victory over Belgium.
And there was no doubt about the final, either, with Archibald, Barker, Evans and Nelson beating Italy by a margin of almost five seconds.
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