Ben Swift (GB) took a solid win in the scratch race.
(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
An ecstatic Ben Swift (Great Britain) celebrates his world championship in the scratch race.
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Scratch race action.
(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Austria had a late charge in the scratch race.
(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Ben Swift in his new jersey.
(Image credit: Mark Gunter)
Scratch race podium (l-r): Nolan Hoffman (South Africa), Ben Swift (Great Britain) and Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands)
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Ben Swift (Great Britain) won the scratch race world championship ahead of Nolan Hoffman (South Africa) and Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands).
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Ben Swift (Great Britain) is the new scratch race world champion.
(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Ben Swift won Great Britain's second gold of the opening night of competition, his first ever world title in a gutsy victory in the men's scratch race. Swift held off a late surge by South Africa's Nolan Hoffman to win the men's 15-kilometer scratch race. Wim Stroetinga of the Netherlands finished third.
Swift chased down Austria Andreas Mueller and Italy's Elia Viviano who had surged ahead of the field with seven laps remaining.
With one lap to go, and with his escape companions tiring, Swift surged ahead with a margin just enough to hold off the remnants of the field.
"I knew somebody was going to attack in the finish, and just tried to play it cool and make other people chase. It's definitely the hardest I've ever had to work for a track cycling race," Swift said.
Hoffman explained that his result was somewhat of a breakthrough.
"I've been to all the world cups and I've struggled a bit and I always thought the world champs is going to be hard," Hoffman said.
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Scratch Race Finals
1
Ben Swift (Great Britain)
2
Nolan Hoffman (South Africa)
3
Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands)
4
Alex Frame (New Zealand)
5
Martin Blaha (Czech Republic)
6
Lucas Liß (Germany)
7
Sunjae Jang (Korea)
8
Angel Dario Colla (Argentina)
9
Pablo Aitor Bernal Rosique (Spain)
10
Vivien Brisse (France)
11
Edison Bravo (Chile)
12
Franco Marvulli (Switzerland)
13
Pavel Gatskiy (Kazakhstan)
14
Andreas Mueller (Austria)
15
Ivan Savitsky (Russian Federation)
16
Alexander Edmondson (Australia)
17
Hariff Salleh (Malaysia)
18
Aliaksandr Lisouski (Belarus)
19
Moreno De Pauw (Belgium)
20
Bobby Lea (United States of America)
21
Elia Viviani (Italy)
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As a sports journalist and producer since 1997, Jane has covered Olympic and Commonwealth Games, rugby league, motorsport, cricket, surfing, triathlon, rugby union, and golf for print, radio, television and online. However her enduring passion has been cycling.
Jane is a former Australian Editor of Cyclingnews from 2011 to 2013 and continues to freelance within the cycling industry.
