Olympic hopeful Will Perrett dazzles at British Track Championships

Olympic hopeful Will Perrett showed himself to be a cut above at the British National Track Championships on Saturday night, stealing three laps in the points race to claim a fifth national title. 

The 27-year-old rode conservatively in the first half of the 120-lap race, before springing into action to collect 78 points, 36 more than second place. It was déjà-vu for those who also raced in the event last year in Newport, where Perrett equally lapped the bunch three times. 

“It was quite cagey,” he told Cycling Weekly of Saturday’s event inside Manchester Velodrome. “Eventually, it hit that point where I could tell people’s legs were tired, and then it was just time to go.” 

The Brit sealed his third lap gain with two laps remaining, when the victory was already wrapped up. Was he showboating? “I guess so,” he laughed. “Then I got about halfway round and I was like, ‘Why did I do this?’ 

“Ben [Greenwood, GB men’s endurance coach] texted me and said, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t take four this year.’ He was disappointed,” he added with a smile. 

Perrett is one of just a handful of riders on GB’s top ‘podium’ programme present at the National Championships this weekend. He has ridden at the World and European Championships, and won at the UCI Track Champions League. Still, he explained, the Nationals are a valuable opportunity to race at a high level and stake his claim for a spot at this summer’s Paris Olympics. 

“I know it sounds daft,” Perrett said, “but I still get on the start line and I always look at the other rides and think, ‘Oh these are really good riders, some really good, talented young lads. These guys could beat me.’ In the end, it wasn’t as close as I thought in my head.” 

After the race, Perrett raked his hand along the back straight, earning a flurry of high-fives from the crowds. He then stopped along the barrier to hug his family, who wore t-shirts brandished ‘Will Power’ in support. 

Will Roberts, who recently spent a night in hospital with illness, finished second, while Noah Hobbs made a last-gasp dash in the final sprint to complete the podium. 

Bell excels 

Perrett was not the only Olympic hopeful to claim national honours on Saturday night. Late in the evening, Lauren Bell surged to victory in the women’s sprint, beating Rhian Edmunds 2-0 in the final. 

“I came here with the goal of having fun and riding my bike,” the Scot said afterwards. “I think a lot of the time, with races, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I just came here and I was enjoying myself.” 

Bell was part of the women’s sprint trio, alongside Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell, that claimed silver at the World Championships last year, in a final where both GB and Germany broke the previous world record. The 24-year-old, however, said Olympic selection was not on her mind. 

“So many times, you go to races and there’s so much pressure on you because of Olympic qualifying points," she said. "It’s nice to be able to come here and actually there’s no pressure, try new things, and just enjoy riding my bike. I could come last, I could come first, it doesn’t matter." 

GB senior academy rider Kate Richardson doubled her weekend gold medal tally, adding victory in the 3km individual pursuit to her Friday triumph in the 4km team pursuit on Friday. 

“I felt in really good shape coming into this competition,” said Richardson, who rides on the road for Lifeplus-Wahoo. “The IP was the event I really wanted to perform in this weekend. I knew this morning I had good legs and I wanted to replicate that ride.” 

The 21-year-old looked assured throughout, catching her opponent, Frankie Hall, with a lap to go in the final.

In the men’s kilometre time trial, 24-year-old Aaron Pope earned a debut national title, stopping the clock at 1:02.172, just a tenth of a second faster than second place Niall Monks. 

The men’s team sprint crown was claimed by a trio of GB programme talents: Harry Ledingham-Horn, Hayden Norris and Ed Lowe.  

Para records fall

The GB para-track squad showed promising form going into next month's World Championships, toppling a raft of national records. 

Katie Toft broke her own six-year-old record in the C1 individual pursuit, while Corrine Hall and Lora Fachie bettered the benchmark in the women’s tandem pursuit. 

Archie Atkinson did the same in the men’s C4 individual pursuit, clocking 4:33.458 and shaving nine seconds off Paralympic great Jody Cundy’s record from 2012.  

“The aim was to get sub-30 [seconds],” Atkinson told Cycling Weekly afterwards. “I didn’t quite get that, but it’s a good starting point for the Worlds coming up. It’s a confidence boost because it proves you’re going well and the training is coming together.” 

There were gold medals too for world champion Fin Graham in the men’s C3 individual pursuit, Matthew Robertson in the C1-2 category, Daphne Schrager in the women’s C1-5 event, and Steve Bate and Chris Latham in the men’s tandem pursuit. 

The three-day championships will conclude on Sunday, when scratch race world champion Will Tidball will be in action in the rainbow bands.