Great Britain successfully defended their men and women’s team pursuit titles on day two of the 2014 European Track Championships in Guadeloupe, with Ed Clancy returning to the saddle to take bronze in the men’s scratch race.
Both of the team pursuit squads had recorded the quickest times in Wednesday’s qualifying session and there was no catching them again as the medals were decided.
The men’s quartet of Clancy, Jon Dibben, Owain Doull and Andy Tennant saw off Russia by more than four seconds in their semi-final to book a showdown with Germany.
And, while it was the Germans who started the final the strongest, ahead through the first three laps, Great Britain capitalised as their opponents began to fade away to stop the clock at 4:11.545 and take gold by almost a second.
It was their fourth team pursuit gold in the last five years – a feat also matched by the women’s squad as Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Ciara Horne and Laura Trott beat Russia in the final by almost seven seconds.
Horne had swapped in for teammate Joanna Rowsell for the semi-final against Germany and maintained her place as Great Britain clocked a time of 4:38.391 in the final.
Meanwhile Clancy took the third British medal of the day as he claimed bronze behind Belgium’s Otto Vergaerde and Spain’s Eloy Teruel Rovira, both of whom had taken a lap in the men’s scratch race, with Clancy’s teammate Mark Christian in 21st.
Lewis Oliva, Matt Crampton and Callum Skinner were just two tenths shy of a medal ride, as they finished sixth in the men’s team sprint in 1:01.377, while Katy Marchant and Rosie Blount were seventh in the women’s event.
Barker and Archibald also returned to the track following their team pursuit exploits, finishing 14th and 16th respectively in the women’s points race.
© Sportsbeat 2014