Barker bags double World Cup silver in Minsk

One day, two World Cup medals – Elinor Barker is not someone you could accuse of shirking the hard yards.

The Olympic champion could already boast two gold and one silver medal from the World Cup season, though two in the matter of hours will certainly be up there as one of the highlights of the season.

That got the Great Britain Cycling Team up and running in Minsk, Belarus while Charlie Tanfield – representing Team KGF – also took gold in the individual pursuit.

But the day belonged to Barker opening the omnium with solid scratch race and tempo race performances to sit with a tie of the lead at the halfway point.

From there she turned up the pace, finishing third in the elimination race to head into the omnium points race only behind Kirsten Wild – a familiar foe throughout the track season for the Brit.

And with the pair almost inseparable, it was unsurprising that neither could be budged from their heady positions, leaving Barker with no cause to complain.

For many that would be enough of a day’s work, but the 23-year-old kept her foot on the gas in the scratch race – despite the majority of the field having fresher legs.

Silver was once again the prize to well and truly launch her 2018, set to be one of the busiest for the Welsh cyclist with the Commonwealth Games also on the agenda.

She was not the only Brit toasting success however as Tanfield showed exactly why many consider him as an emerging star.

Impressing in the team pursuit, the 21-year-old carried that into the individual racing, setting the fastest qualifying time to guarantee a spot in the gold-medal final.

Against Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira there only seemed to be one winner from the outset, the Brit eventually prevailing by more than five seconds. There was also a bronze medal was Lewis Oliva, battling his way to the podium in the men's keirin representing Team Wales.

Sportsbeat 2018   Photo credit: SWpix.com