Great Britain's para-cyclists lead the way in Scotland

The recently concluded inaugural edition of the UCI cycling world track championships in Glasgow, Scotland was not short of excitement as the world’s best cyclists battled it out in Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Scotland to be crowned the world champions in their respective categories. The mega event which started on the 2nd of August ended on the 8th of August and saw around 2600 athletes compete in various disciplines with para-cycling also being integrated alongside the 2023 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

Great Britain Neil Fachie accompanied by his pilot Matt Rotherham

In the para men’s and women’s sprint category Great Britain’s Neil Fachie and Sophie Unwin claimed gold and were piloted by their respective pilots Matt Rotherham and Jenny Holl. Germany’s Thomas Ulbricht and France’s Raphael Beaugillet followed by Jessica Gallagher of Australia and Hannah Chadwick of the USA claimed the second and third positions in the sprint event. In the 1km time trial event for men Great Britain’s dominance continued as Sam Ruddock (C1), Jaco Van Gass (C3), Jody Cundy (C4), and Blaine Hunt (C5) all won gold medals and Neil Fachie (B) won his second consecutive gold of the championship and was once again successfully accompanied by his pilot Matt Rotherham. The women’s 500m time trial event saw China’s Qian Wangwei and Yang Jiafan (C1) win gold and bronze respectively while Great Britain’s Frances Brown won silver. In the C4 500m event, Britain’s Kadeena Cox claimed gold and the paralympic champion successfully defended her world championship title. Great Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Elizabeth Jordan claimed gold and bronze in their 1km time trial event and Australia’s Jessica Gallagher took home silver.

Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl celebrate winning Team GB's first gold medal

The individual pursuit event saw some of the familiar faces from Great Britain take home the top prizes as Finlay Graham (C3) and Jaco Van Gass (C3) finished first and second and Devon Briggs (C3) from New Zealand took home the consolation award with a third-place finish. The women’s individual pursuit event saw Frances Brown (C1) of Great Britain upstage China’s Qian Wangwei (C1) as she took home the gold medal and recorded a world record in the process. The C2 category of individual pursuit saw Daphne Schrager of Great Britain win silver in the 3 km event as she finished with a time of 3:56.189 falling short to Switzerland’s Flurina Rigling. However, Sophie Unwin continued her amazing work as she claimed her third gold medal of the championship in the individual pursuit (B) category and was accompanied by her fellow country women in Lora Fachie who finished second with the help of her pilot Cornie Hall.

Great Britain's Jaco van Gass during his C3 1km time trial event

The Scratch race in men’s C3 event saw a repeat of heroics as Jaco Van Gass and Finlay Graham took home gold and silver respectively and New Zealand’s Devon Briggs finished third. There was more to come from Team GB’s para-cyclists as 19-year-old Archie Atkinson fought off New Zealand's Benjamin Westenberg to win the men's C4 scratch race. A similar storyline was seen in the women’s scratch race C1 category as Frances Brown continued her superb form and won another gold medal and was followed by Qian Wangwei and Yang Jiafan who took home silver and bronze respectively.

Britain’s Sam Ruddock won bronze in the C1 omnium race event and finished with 148 points and Jaco Van Gass (C3) and Finley Graham (C3) accompanied him with their wins in the C3 omnium race event with 156 and 152 points respectively. In the women’s omnium race event, Britain’s Frances Brown once again completed her podium finish as she won gold in the C1 category and ended her omnium event with 156 points. The mixed team sprint event saw Great Britain’s Elizbeth Jordan and Neil Fachie win gold and the team of Kadeena Cox, Jody Cundy, and Jaco van Gass finished second and took home silver in their C1-5 team sprint event. All in all, the event was dominated by the hosts as they won 30 medals in total, and their impressive run was backed by their dominance in the sprint trial events and tandem events for blind cyclists. Despite Britain’s strong run the event also saw 12 nations winning gold and 21 nations reaching the podium.