'I don't think I could have dreamed of a better week' – GB return from Junior Track Worlds with five golds

Great Britain returned from the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, with five gold medals in their hand luggage, and five more of bronze and silver.

The young squad had a successful time in Europe, with young stars Henry Hobbs and Erin Boothman, in particular, having golden weeks. The pair both came home with two rainbow jerseys.

Boothman won the Madison, with Phoebe Taylor, and the team pursuit with Abi Miller, Arabella Blackburn, Evie Smith and Taylor. Meanwhile, Hobbs won in the omnium and in the 1km time trial. The 18-year-old also won silver in the team pursuit with Rory Gravelle, Max Hinds, Dan Thompson and Albie Jones, after they were pipped by Italy in the final.

GB’s other gold came in the men’s team sprint, for Kristian Larigo, Archie Gill, and Ioan Hepburn. There was also silver in the individual sprint for Gill, which was won by Choi Tae-ho of South Korea, bronze in the individual pursuit for Thompson, which was won by Alessio Magagnotti of Italy, and bronze in the men’s Madison for Hinds and Thompson, as Eric Igual and Eñaut Urcaregui of Spain were victors.

“[I] don’t think I could have dreamed of a better week of racing winning the omnium and backing it up with the kilo the next day, after picking up silver in the team pursuit with the lads just a couple days before,” Hobbs posted on Instagram on Monday evening.

“The biggest thanks to the support team and coaches at British Cycling and the GB Cycling Team for making the trip possible and providing the next level coaching to get me in a place to win these kinds of races,” he continued.

Hobbs became the first junior rider to sweep all six endurance events at the Junior British National Track Championships earlier this month, and is a world record holder in the individual pursuit at junior level on his way to gold at last month’s Junior European Championships.

Boothman, meanwhile, already a two-time world champion last year, and a three-time European champion, wrote that she was “super proud” to defend her two titles from 2024, although she was disappointed to miss out on the omnium after crashing out of the points race. The 18-year-old currently holds three world records at junior level.

“To win the TP with the girls this year was a dream come true, we have worked so hard as a team this year,” she said on Instagram. “So [I] couldn’t be happier to break our own world record from Euros and win the coveted rainbow jersey.”