Ethan Hayter took Great Britain's medal tally to four at the Track Cycling World Championships after battling to bronze in the men’s omnium in Poland.
The endurance rider was leading the standings heading into the final points race but couldn’t quite hold on for the title, edged onto the last spot on the podium in the very final sprint.
That followed up consistent performances in the scratch, tempo and elimination races earlier in the day in Pruszkow to put himself in the lead position, believing a touch of inexperience played its part as Campbell Stewart took gold.
But with this bronze sitting alongside back-to-back team pursuit gold and silver medals over the past two Championships, Hayter can already lay claim to a full set of world medals aged just 20 – adding to the European crown he bagged in the omnium, in Glasgow last year.
“I’m a little disappointed right now, because I wanted to be world champion in the omnium,” he said.
“But also, to justify myself over three other riders, who aren’t worse than me. I’ll look back on it and be quite happy, it’s a good result and good ranking points for the Olympics.
“I should have followed Stewart when he made the move, I had the legs to do it. I started to hurt a little, and usually I’d zip on to little things like that. I think it was just a mistake with the pressure getting to me a little bit.
“I wanted someone else to close the gap, but they were more knackered than I was.
“I’ve done the team pursuit and the omnium so far; and a silver and a bronze isn’t ideal but it’s a good result to build on.”
Hayter’s bronze adds to the silver medals won by both male and female team pursuit squads, while Elinor Barker became scratch world champion on the opening night.
Saturday’s action saw the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist granted the chance to add to her tally in the Madison – a new event for the Tokyo 2020 Games – alongside Neah Evans.
Barker took the place of Katie Archibald who withdrew on medical advice, with the makeshift pair coming agonisingly close to claiming another medal as they finished fourth.
A late attack by Denmark saw them take the last spot on the podium, with Evans even suffering a crash mid-race before dusting herself down to continue.
Gold went to Netherlands’ Kirsten Wild and Amy Pieters, with Barker disappointed at not having the energy when it mattered most in Poland.
“I’m a little annoyed because we knew the Denmark attack was going to happen, but I just didn’t have the legs to go with it,” she said.
“They had a really good jump and I just couldn’t go with it, I was right next to them.
“We knew it was going to happen within 40 laps, they’ve done it throughout the World Cup season. So I’m really disappointed with that moment.
“I wasn’t really prepared for the race, I’d gone into holiday mode already a little bit and never thought I’d be doing it.
“I probably should have got my head in the game a little bit more when Katie did the omnium on Friday, which also wasn’t expected, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high and then I just wasn’t very prepared for it if I’m honest. Which is my own fault really.”
Great Britain were also in sprint action on the fourth day of competition, with Jack Carlin and Joe Truman both losing their head-to-heads in the quarter-finals.
Ellie Dickinson, who was part of the team pursuit quartet to win silver on Thursday, missed out in the individual equivalent as did Emily Nelson, the pair unable to get through qualifying.
Olympic bronze medallist Katy Marchant was just two tenths of a second from sprint qualification, with Victoria Williamson joining her in exiting early on.
The final day of competition will see Marchant and Evans return to the track for the keirin and points race respectively, while Truman and Carlin will team up for the men’s sprint.
Hayter will also be back on the boards as he rides with Mark Stewart in the Madison.
Pics: SWpix.com
Sportsbeat 2019