UCI Track Worlds: Elinor Barker wins Scratch Race title

Image 1 of 48

Elinor Barker secured the first rainbow jersey for Great Britain at the UCI Track World Championships in Poland on Wednesday, taking gold in the Scratch Race ahead of Dutchwoman Kirsten Wild and Belgium’s Jolien D’hoore.

"This feels so good," Barker said after the race. "It feels amazing."

It wasn't a smooth event as a crash marred the final lap of the event. The incident apparently didn't affect Barker's final sprint, however, with the winner saying she was only vaguely aware of the crash when it happened.

"I didn't know the crash happened until after, to be honest," Barker said. "Well, I knew that something had happened. I heard a bit of a bang, but you don’t really hear much when that happens behind you, so I didn’t know it happened until I came around a lap later to set up for my sprint. I hope everyone is OK and I think everyone got up."

Gold for Netherlands and Australia in Team Sprint

The Dutch men and Australian women each brought home gold in the Team Sprints, with the Dutch men beating France in the gold medal race and the Australian women taking down the Russian Federation for the rainbow jersey.

The Dutch team of Roy Van Den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland set the best qualifying time of 0:42.574 and then beat Great Britain in the first round to go on to the finals. In the gold medal race, the beat the French trio of Gregory Bauge, Sebastien Vigier and Quentin Lafargue with a time of 0:41.923 to 0:42.889. In the race for bronze, Russia beat Germany 0:43.115 to 0:43.294.

In the women's Team Sprint, the Australian duo of Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton set the top qualifying time of 0:32.492 and then beat Russians Daria Shmeleva and Anastasiia Voinova for gold. The Australians handled China easily in the first round and then rode a 0:32.255 in the gold medal round to Russia's 0:32.591. In the race for bronze, Germany rode 0:32.789 to Mexico's 0:33.455 to claim the final podium spot.

Australians top Team Pursuit qualifying

The Australian men and women came out firing in Poland on Wednesday, with both teams setting the top marks in the qualifying round.

The men's quartet of Samuel Welsford, Kelland O'brien, Leigh Howard and Cameron Scott rode 3:52.152 to top the ranking heading into Thursday's elimination rounds. Great Britain's Ethan Hayter, Edward Clancy, Kian Emadi and Oliver Wood were second with 3:53.879.  The Danish quartet of Lasse Norman Hansen, Julius Johansen, Rasmus Pedersen and Casper Von Folsach were third with 3:54.141.

Disaster struck the Italian men's team of Liam Bertazzo, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Lamon and Davide Plebani when Lamon crashed on the second lap, leading the remaining three to carry on to 10th best. The French quartet of Benjamin Thomas, Florian Maitre, Bryan Coquard and Aurelien Costeplane got off to a fast start but exploded in the final laps and slipped to 16th.

The Australian men again set the fastest time in the first round, beating New Zealand with 3:51.529, while the British men, taking on Denmark in the first round, were just a tick slower at 3:51.635 to the Danes' 3:55.602. Canada set the third-best time of the first round, beating Poland with a time of 3:54.670. The Australians will take on Great Britain in Thursday's gold medal round, while the Canadians will face Denmark for bronze.

The Australian team of Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker and Amy Cure blazed around the Polish track with a time of 4:14.915 to top the women's qualifying round, beating the British squad of Laura Kenny, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker and Eleanor Dickinson in 4:15.618. The Kiwi quartet of Rushlee Buchanan, Bryony Botha, Holly Edmondston and Kirstie James are third at 4:19.065. The defending champions from the US, represented by Jennifer Valente, Christina Birch, Kimberly Geist and Emma White, were seventh at 4:25.384.

Australia will now face Italy in the first round on Thursday, with Great Britain taking on New Zealand, the United States facing Germany and Canada taking on Belgium.

Full Results