Two golds for Great Britain on second day of Track World Cup

Success for GB men team sprinters and women team pursuiters on second day of Track World Cup in Mexico
Nigel Wynn

Great Britain’s women’s team pursuit and men’s team sprint squads both came away with gold medals on the second day of the opening round of the UCI Track World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Having qualified fastest on Friday, GB’s women team pursuiters progressed to the final against Canada to claim gold, with Amy Roberts taking the place of Katie Archibald in the British quartet alongside Laura Trott, Ciara Horne and Emily Barker.

Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner then took the men’s team sprint title against favourites Germany, finding a winning formula in an event that has seen GB experimenting with various line-ups over the past couple of seasons.

The men’s team pursuit unit of Andy Tennant, Jonathan Dibben, Steven Burke and Mark Christian added to GB’s medal tally on Saturday night with silver, beaten by the Australian squad of Daniel Fitter, Alexander Porter, Miles Scotson and Samuel Welsford with a solid time of 3-55.976.

British women’s sprint duo Jess Varnish and Dannielle Khan finished ninth, with Australia’s Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton taking the win. Varnish and Victoria Williamson also failed to make the finals in the individual sprint discipline, settling for 13th and 10th positions respectively. Varnish will be back in action in the women’s keirin.

Kenny came close to securing a medal in the men’s keirin, but had to settle for fourth spot behind winner Joachim Eilers of Germany. Kenny and Hindes will represent GB in the men’s individual sprint.

Archibald and Dibben were both in action in the respective women’s and men’s omnium opening rounds, but with work to do to reach the medal positions on the final day in Guadalajara on Sunday.