Tag: Wiggins

Katie Archibald helps Great Britain to first world women’s team pursuit gold since 2014; victory hugely poignant for Archibald following death of partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell after cardiac arrest last year; para-cyclists Sam Ruddock, Blaine Hunt and Jaco van Gass also win gold

Katie Archibald and Great Britain celebrated an emotional victory in the women’s team pursuit at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.

Archibald, Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris won gold with a time of four minutes 8.771 seconds, more than four seconds ahead of New Zealand, as they scooped Britain’s first world title in this event since 2014.

Archibald’s fifth world title was hugely poignant with the 29-year-old’s late partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell dying of a cardiac arrest as he lay in bed last August.

The rider was given a tremendous reception from the crowd and told BBC Sport: “It is all coming out now with this event.

“Someone was talking about imposter syndrome the other day and you almost have it the other way round.

“We almost see ourselves as the best in the world but we have not been on the top step since 2014. So to have that feeling validated feels good.”

Archibald, Anna Morris, Elinor Baker, Megan Barker and Knight (left to right) pose with their gold medals

‘Archibald phenomenal – I don’t know how she does it’

Knight, who shares a house with Archibald, said of her team-mate: “I see her ups and downs every day. She’s had a really tough couple of weeks. I know her prep hasn’t been quite what she would have wanted.

“Usually she’s the real hero of this team. We’ve had to adapt and I’ve tried to step up, take that role on. But she is phenomenal. We all stepped up. And we’re world champions.”

Barker added: “Katie’s unbelievable. It’s really hard to summarise the year that she has had, how she feels about it, how we feel about it.

“Just the fact that she is here, it’s insane. I don’t really know how she does it, to be honest.”

Archibald and Barker were both part of the team when Britain last won the women’s team pursuit world title nine years ago, going on to enjoy Olympic glory in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 before taking silver in Tokyo at the following Games.

There were also more gold medals for Britain’s para-cyclists.

Sam Ruddock successfully defended his men’s C1 kilo title before Blaine Hunt took the C5 crown, with Jaco van Gass then beating team-mate Fin Graham to win the men’s C3 scratch race and his second rainbow jersey in as many days.

Tom Pidcock on Tour de France descents after Gino Mader’s death: “That was pretty hard hitting. I didn’t see a single rider take any risks on the stages after that. What hit me was it happened descending, which I love. Things can happen when we’re riding down a descent at 100kph”

Britain’s Tom Pidcock said Gino Mader’s death during a high-speed descent in Switzerland less than two weeks ago could result in riders being more cautious at the Tour de France.

Swiss rider Mader died aged 26 due to injuries suffered when he crashed into a ravine during the Tour de Suisse. Pidcock’s Ineos Grenadiers team mate Magnus Sheffield crashed separately at the same corner, suffering concussion and spending three days in hospital.

Descending is one of Pidcock’s strengths but the 23-year-old, who won an iconic Tour de France stage at L’Alpe d’Huez last year, said Mader’s death may have an impact on his style.

“I think especially for everyone who was at the race, that was pretty hard hitting,” Pidcock, who was also competing in the eight-stage race, told reporters on Wednesday.

“I think I didn’t see a single rider take any risks on the last two stages after that incident. Personally, one of the things that hit me was it happened descending, which is something that I love.

Gino Mader died aged 26 following a fall at the 2023 Tour de Suisse earlier this month

“It showed me what the consequences can be when it goes wrong. I don’t take unnecessary risks but things can happen when we’re riding down a descent at 100kph in Lycra.”

Mader’s death raised questions about rider safety and triggered calls for safety nets in the most dangerous downhill sections but Pidcock said risk will always be part of the sport.

“I guess unless we all want to race round the motor racing circuits, then we have to accept that we will be racing down descents,” he told the Telegraph.

“I think risks are involved in cycling and sometimes – it doesn’t happen often – it can go wrong. I guess we do what we can to mitigate those risks but they’ll never be gone.”

Pidcock, who is also an Olympic gold medallist in cross country mountain biking, will lead Ineos at the Tour, which begins in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday.

Geraint Thomas, who remains in the lead at the Giro d’Italia: “We stayed calm when a small group went in the first climb. We stayed in control with Ben Swift and Pavel Sivakov setting the pace. Great ride by them. The way it went at the end made it quite hard to attack”

Einer Rubio won stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia as Geraint Thomas retained the Maglia Rosa on a rain-interrupted day.

Movistar rider Rubio won the 74.6-kilometre stage in two hours 16 minutes and 21 seconds while Thibaut Pinot and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda finished second and third respectively.

Rubio said: “A big day that I was looking for by working very hard. It’s been difficult with the bad weather. But I had to keep going.

“I knew that Pinot was very strong. I had to finish with him and play it well tactically. It will take time for me to realise that I won a stage of the Giro d’Italia. I didn’t believe I’d do it.”

The stage started under heavy rain at Borgofranco d’Ivrea but organisers were forced to re-route some of it, with riders retreating to their team buses due to the conditions.

Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) retains the overall lead ahead of Primoz Roglic and Joao Almeida.

Thomas said: “We stayed calm when a small group went in the first climb. We stayed in control with Ben Swift and Pavel Sivakov setting the pace. Great ride by them. The way it went at the end made it quite hard to attack.

“But Primoz is probably happy to leave me in the Maglia Rosa for a few more days. I expect something more from him next week.”

Katy Archibal bossed all four rounds of the omnium to claim her 19th European title; Ollie Wood took gold in the scratch race; Dan Bigham claimed silver in the individual pursuit; Sophie Capewell sealed bronze in the individual sprint

Katie Archibald added a 19th European title to her record tally with a display of pure dominance in the omnium as Britain celebrated two golds amid four medals on day three of the Championships in Switzerland.

A day after helping Great Britain win team pursuit gold, Archibald bossed all four rounds of the omnium, winning the scratch, tempo, and elimination races before being securing the victory as one of three riders to gain a lap on the field in the deciding points race.

Archibald started the final race knowing that to be sure of gold she just needed to mark a handful of rivals, most obviously Poland’s Daria Pikulik. But the Briton did much more than that, joining an attack from Danish rider Amalie Dideriksen midway through to pick up 20 extra points for gaining a lap.

The 28-year-old finished with a winning margin of 31 points over Pikulik – a superb result in an event which counts as the first in qualifying for the Paris Olympics.

“I’ve got five really big targets between now and the Games – that’s one way to look at it but the other is that it’s a European title and that’s something I’m always happy with,” Archibald said.

“I was pretty nervous. The scratch race didn’t settle me like it normally does, especially if you get a win you come off feeling confident, but I thought I’d gone too hard. It turns out everyone else went hard as well.”

Ollie Wood, part of Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad that took silver on Thursday, had earlier claimed his 10th European medal but first gold with a superbly timed attack in the scratch race.

Wood stormed around the outside of the pack as they passed the bell to signal the final lap and never looked like being caught as the 27-year-old sat up to celebrate before the line.

Wood’s team-mate Dan Bigham had to settle for silver in the individual pursuit having dominated qualifying.

Bigham, racing in the velodrome where he had set a short-lived UCI Hour Record last August, set a new track record – and sixth fastest time ever – to top the table in qualifying and led for the first three of the four kilometres in the final.

But Italy’s Jonathan Milan ate into his advantage late on and nosed in front with a little over 500 metres to go to take gold.

There was also a hugely encouraging bronze for Sophie Capewell in the women’s individual sprint, one of the best results in the 24-year-old’s career as she beat world champion Mathilde Gros in the medal rounds.

Capewell, part of the squad that took team sprint silver on Wednesday, had crashed in her semi-final against Lea Friedrich but comfortably beat Gros 2-0 in the battle for bronze.

The day’s haul puts Britain top of the medal table with eight, just ahead of Germany’s seven, going into the weekend.