Great Britain's team pursuiters dominate European Track Champs qualification
Great Britain's male and female team pursuit squads both qualified fastest by a clear margin at the European Track Championships in Switzerland
- Photos from Graham Watson
Great Britain dominated the opening team pursuit qualifying rounds at the European Track Championship in Grenchen, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Both GB's male and female quartets clocked the fastest times by a clear margin over their nearest rivals.
Sir Bradley Wiggins, Steven Burke, Owain Doull and Andy Tennant set a time of 3-57.277 to average 60.688 km/h and go comfortably under the four-minute mark. The team will face Russia in the championship's first proper day of competition tomorrow (Thursday) as they seek to gain a place in the gold medal final.
Switzerland were the only other team to post a sub-four-minute time, going second fastest with 3-59.026. France were third with 4-00.735.
Great Britain heads off in the team pursuit qualifying round
(Image credit: Watson)
"We didn't really know what to expect coming in because we've been doing a lot of training into it," Doull commented to British Cycling.
"That was the aim to do something around that time and have a nice smooth consistent ride. Yeah pretty successful."
It's the first clear indication that Wiggins has slotted into the GB line-up with ease, complementing Burke, Doull and Tennant. At this point, the performance looks on target for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
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Sir Bradley Wiggins at the 2015 European Track Championships
(Image credit: Watson)
Also on target were the British women's quartet of Laura Trott, Elinor Barker, Ciara Horne and Joanna Rowsell Shand, who were clearly in a league of their own.
The squad posted a time of 4-21.089, some nine and a half seconds quicker than second-placed Russia. Italy qualified third fastest.
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
