Archibald rues tactics as Barker takes gold

AFTER celebrating gold with a little taste of home, Katie Archibald just couldn’t deliver a sweet second serving of Commonwealth Games glory — allowing Team GB team-mate Elinor Barker to rise to the occasion in the madcap points race.

Archibald had gone wild and treated herself to home-baked scones on Friday night after winning the individual pursuit at the Anna Meares velodrome.

But her attempt at landing a second gold left her feeling underdone, as a Barker break before the halfway point reduced the rest of the field to scrapping for the minor placings.

She could still celebrate a silver, while Team Scotland colleague Neah Evans sweetened the occasion by finishing in third thanks to a dramatic finish in the final sprint.

Archibald, who won four of the sprints, confessed: ‘I’d lost it before that point.

‘I had to be scoring in every sprint but we faffed. Me and Neah, in trying not to hurt each other, we actually hindered each other.

‘By halfway through, I was thinking this race wasn’t for me and then it all fell to pieces and you realised it was going to sprints.

‘But I really messed up the first half of the race, and by then the damage was done. I’d done so much chasing that it took the edge off the sprints.

‘Yes, a silver still feels good — but I was miles away from the gold. It’s annoying because you know all the strengths of the other riders and you focus on countering, but what I should have done was focus on my own strengths. In the end there was too much chasing.’

Archibald and Evans had been aiming to claim the top two spots on the podium, the former admitting: ‘It was arrogance going in saying we wanted to get gold and silver.

‘We’re two of the fastest riders in there,

but we weren’t as fast as Eli!’

Archibald returns tonight for the scratch race, then switches discipline for the road race and time trial.

She said: ‘The pressure is off for the rest of them. I’m most excited for the time trial. Win or lose, there is so much pleasure you get out of it. I find scratch racing quite frustrating.’

Archibald had promised to enjoy the night after her gold and older brother John’s silver on Friday. And she revealed just how wild the family party had been, declaring: ‘We had freshly made scones last night.

‘We’re not in the village, so we have an oven and, without being snobs, we have a chef with us — so he made the scones.’

Meanwhile, Jack Carlin was left disappointed after missing out on gold in the men’s sprint, beaten into silver place by defending champ Sam Webster.

Carlin said: ‘You come to win. But Sam’s an unbelievable rider, very crafty on the track. He knows how to use it to his advantage.

‘What I need to do right now is get a shower, have a pint and then you can ask me again how I feel!’