Archibald wins women's Endurance title at Track Champions League

Katie Archibald (Great Britain) won the Women’s Endurance title at the inaugural UCI Track Champions League in front of the home crowd on Saturday. The final two of four rounds were held at Lee Valley VeloPark in London. Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) finished 45 points off the sizeable lead of the Briton to take second place overall, while Annette Edmondson (Australia) finished three points ahead of Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) to grab third place.

In the Women’s Scratch race, Archibald attacked with 14 laps to go. Her move caused chaos in the group behind and multiple gaps opened between riders. The main bunch caught her four laps later, giving Spain’s Eukene Larrarte a chance to go with three other riders including Yumi Kajihara of Japan. A half lap lead soon developed before Kajihara attacked from the break. Kajihara continued solo to the finish line as a frantic bunch sprint began behind. Archibald charged ahead to finish second, followed by Coles-Lyster in third and Edmondson in fourth.

Archibald secured her overall victory in the Elimination race, with tension in the race surrounding the final podium spots. Coles-Lyster and Edmondson were eliminated once the race came down to the final six riders. The Briton then won the one-on-one battle versus Wild for the final victory of the track season, and for Wild the second-place finish was the final for her career. 

“This title means a big deal, more than that – just how professional it has been, just how much support we’ve had, and the amount of amazing feedback I’ve had. I would have really loved to go to Israel next week. But selfishly, it feels pretty good to do it here in the UK,” said Archibald, who claimed the overall title in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. The fifth round that was scheduled for Israel next weekend was cancelled.