Not even the presence of Sir Bradley Wiggins in the quartet was sufficient to ensure a podium placing in the men’s team pursuit in Cali, Colombia. Their somewhat disappointing fifth place position, combined with the women’s unexpected bronze medal in their equivalent event, would have been a slight concern for Team GB after winning both events at the recent European Championships in Grenchen.
Strong British quartet
Wiggins teamed up with Andy Tennant, Steven Burke and Owain Doull as they failed to make the medal races altogether. Instead, it was the rapidly improving Russians that claimed team pursuit gold from the Swiss, with Australia also disappointing their expectant fans with bronze.
Trott claimed gold for GB
However, the queen of the velodrome, Laura Trott continued her fine current form at the first UCI track Cycling World Cup event, as she once again proved to be a step above her opposition in the omnium discipline. As in the Euros she finished well clear of her pursuers overall, with France’s Laurie Berthon 53 points back in second and long-term rival Sarah Hammer from America third, a further seven points in arrears.
Silver for Tennant
There was also a silver lining in the men’s individual pursuit for the British team, as Andy Tennant claimed second place behind Germany's Domenic Weinstein. Sadly, Tennant was not able to reproduce his personal best form from qualifying in the gold medal race itself, falling a tantalising 2.026 seconds short of the top spot but seemed rightly pleased with his performance, nonetheless.
Illness hindered women’s team pursuit team
There were mitigating circumstances to explain the women’s team pursuit unusually low finish in their event. That they managed to come away with a medal of any colour was down to the bravery of Elinor Barker. Despite struggling with illness she heroically made it to the starting line for their race for bronze, but then stepped off the track as the action got underway.
Regulations within the sport do not allow a team to start with only three riders, although they are permitted to finish with that number still involved. As it was, the battling remaining trio of Joanna Rowsell Shand, Katie Archibald and Ciara Horne took on the quartet from China, edging them out of the medal places by under two-tenths of a second.
Canada proved to be the class of the event, taking gold over America by more than five seconds.
Germany took overall honours
Team GB took a 17-rider squad out to the South American city for the three-day event, with one major absentee being Ed Clancy who missed out with a back injury. Germany proved to be the strongest nation in Cali, with Russia next best and GB matching China in third place in the overall team standings.
New Zealand next
The global appeal of the sport is typified by the next World Cup event (of the three in the series) being in Cambridge, New Zealand in December. Team GB will no doubt look to send a strong team whilst giving experience to newer riders in addition. The events also allow them an opportunity to experiment with different permutations in the team events, ahead of Rio 2016.
