Great Britain won two gold medals in the space of 20 minutes at the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China on Thursday.
Matt Bostock earned the nation’s first rainbow jersey of the championships with a hard-fought victory in the men’s scratch race. A quarter of an hour later, the British women’s team pursuit squad then set out and dominated their final against Italy, leading for more than three quarters of the 4km event, and winning by over five seconds with a 4:04.610.
The quartet in the final included three riders who won the European title and set a world record in February – Anna Morris, Josie Knight and Millie Couzens – plus 19-year-old Erin Boothman, a four-time junior world champion. Megan Barker was also part of the winning team, having ridden in the first round earlier in the day.
"It was phenomenal," said the now three-time world champion Knight. "Last year, when we came third, we really wanted more. To come back this year and win in the way we did, with a fresh new team – obviously, me, Meg and Anna have been doing it a while, but these two [Boothman and Couzens], it’s their first senior World Championships – to come home with a gold is really special."
Morris explained that the team's strategy in the final was to "come home like a train". That responsibility fell on Knight, Couzens and Boothman, the latter two on their senior Worlds debuts.
"I’m over the moon to even be riding with these girls,” Boothman said. “To come here, get the experience to even ride with them, but then to come away from gold is super special.”
Great Britain have now won the women's team pursuit nine times since the event was introduced to the Track Worlds in 2008, making them the most successful nation.
Germany earned the bronze medal in Shanghai.
Bostock in control
While the team pursuit gold medal was a collective effort, Bostock’s was one of individual brilliance.
The Manxman animated the 40-lap scratch race from the beginning, before setting off solo after the breakaway Alex Vogel (Switzerland) around the halfway mark, and catching and passing him with around 10 laps remaining.
Bostock then ploughed on at the front of the race to hold off the bunch by more than half a lap. Tom Sexton (New Zealand) finished second, with Lindsay De Vylder (Belgium) in third.
"It’s been a dream ever since I was a kid," Bostock said of his maiden world title.
"I stepped away from track and watched my partner [Megan Barker] at the Olympics and thought, ‘You know what, I’ll give it a go in the next few years and see where it could take me.’ A couple of years on, I’ve got myself a world title. I couldn’t be happier."
Curiously, Bostock went on to explain that he wasn't originally meant to be in the British team for this week's Worlds. He also only got the call-up to race the scratch the night before.
"After the Commonwealth Games [where Bostock won the points race] it was the plan to miss this and focus on next year," he said. "It's been, honestly, crazy."
Danish pursuit supremacy
Also on Thursday, Denmark claimed the men’s team pursuit title for the fourth consecutive year, romping past an Italian quartet that counted Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan.
The team of Rasmus Pedersen, Frederik Madsen, Lasse Norman Leth and Carl-Frederik Bévort won with a comfortable five-second margin, clocking 3:40.865 in the final. The time put them within a second of their own world record – 3:39.977 – set, like the British women, at the European Championships in Konya, Turkey, in February.
“[The time is impressive] especially considering the circumstances of this track,” said Pedersen. “It’s maybe not the fastest track, but we executed the perfect race. We have a great team.”
The bronze medal ride-off swung the way of Great Britain who, despite trailing for the middle two kilometres, overhauled their race against France to win by more than three seconds with a 3:47.245.
The British team consisted of brothers Noah and Henry Hobbs, Ethan Vernon, Ollie Wood, and Bostock, who rode in the first round on Wednesday.
Kopecky eliminates all
Elsewhere, Lotte Kopecky cruised to her third elimination race world title. The Belgian fended off Japan’s Yumi Kajihara in the final two, with the USA’s Megan Jastrab rounding out the podium.
“A world title is always special. It’s one of my favourite disciplines on the track so it’s really nice to get a win here today,” said Kopecky, who missed last year’s event due to a fracture in her back.
Abi Miller, Britain’s 18-year-old senior Track Worlds debutant, placed ninth.
In the men’s keirin, Harrie Lavreysen collected his second world title of the championships, a day after winning the team sprint with the Netherlands.
The Japanese sprint event now makes up six of the Dutchman’s record 22 track world titles. Max Dornbach (Germany) came second and Shinji Nakano (Japan) third.
No British man made it into the quarterfinals of the keirin. The nation’s hopes had been pinned on the European champion Matthew Richardson, until he was sent home on Monday amid reports of serious misconduct regarding discriminatory posts and behaviour.
Richardson’s withdrawal from the squad came too late for Great Britain to swap another rider into the event.
Olympic team sprint champions Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell powered through the first rounds of the individual sprint and will compete against each other in the semi-finals on Friday. Finucane is already a two-time world champion in the event.
The other women’s sprint semi-final will be made up of China’s Yuan Liying and Japan’s Mina Sato.