Will Perrett retained his men’s points title in heroic style as Lauren Bell was undefeated in the women’s sprint on the second day of the British National Track Championships in Manchester.
11 national champions were crowned on the second day of exciting competition in Manchester, returning to the venue for the first time since 2020.
Men’s points race
William Perrett (Spirit TBW) put in a heroic performance in the men’s points race to retain his title for a second year.
After a steady start, Will Roberts (Saint Piran) made moves to take the second sprint, with a chasing Ben Wiggins (Hagens Berman Jayco CT) closing the gap to reel the Welshman back in. Will Tidball (Saint Piran) kept on the pace for the third sprint and pushed on in a bid to get away with a small group. The scratch world champion looked on good form, claiming maximum points, before it came back together. Michael Gill (Private) and Wiggins continued to be active in the bunch, before Perrett made his first move with Roberts just inside 80 laps but was foiled quickly by an attacking peloton.
Having just claimed a bronze in the 1km time-trial, Henry Hobbs (Willebrord Wil Vooruit) made a ferocious attack on the sixth sprint with a fiercely chasing peloton behind, and was eventually caught.
An active bunch continued to ebb and flow with Jack Hartley (Cycling Sheffield) storming off the front before Wiggins closed the gap. Perrett made his deciding move with 37 laps remaining as Gill and Callum Twelves (Torres-Fernando Barcelo) chased, with Perrett and Gill claiming 20 points. Wiggins and Roberts then got away, with Perrett showing his strength to close the gap and form a group of six, claiming another lap.
With 20 laps remaining, Perrett accelerated away solo to take his third lap to confirm the lead and win the overall title with ease on 78 points.
A cagey final six laps saw Noah Hobbs (GFD) power to cross the line first in the final sprint, which was enough to take him into the bronze medal position on 34 points, while Roberts’ second place in the sprint saw him claim the silver on 42 points.
Speaking after his win, Perrett said:
“It was quite a cagey start. In previous years it kicked off really early and I think the other riders were probably conscious of how it’s gone in previous years. Once there had been a couple of hard sprints, I could tell the legs were going out of the bunch and that was my time to put on the gas and go for it.”
Women’s sprint
Lauren Bell (Team Inspired) was undefeated in the women’s sprint in order to take the national title in style.
After qualifying fastest in a time of 10.845 - the only rider to dip under 11 seconds, - Bell sailed through her opening rounds to reach the semi-finals against junior rider Georgette Rand (Velo Club Lincoln), where she took two wins.
Second fastest qualifier Rhian Edmunds (Team Inspired) faced teammate Iona Moir (Team Inspired) in the semis, with Moir and Edmunds securing a win each in tight races, taking it right to the line. A final heat saw the two cross the line in a photo finish, with Edmunds receiving the go ahead to make it into the gold medal ride off against Bell.
Facing 2022 champion Rhian Edmunds (Team Inspired), Bell continued to show off her sprinting prowess to outpower her teammate and take the title as Edmunds settled for silver.
Moir and Rand had a great battle for the bronze, with Moir taking the first win and Rand closing in on the second sprint to just pip the win on the line. The final race saw Rand snatch the win and round off the podium in bronze.
Speaking after her win, Bell said:
“I came in here with the goal of just enjoying riding my bike and having fun, the crowd in Manchester certainly helped that – they were amazing.
“So many times you go to races and there is so much pressure on you, so it’s nice to come here, try new things and just enjoy myself. Even with the selection process hotting up, I’m just trying to focus on myself and take each day as it comes.”
Men’s and women’s B pursuit
Lora Fachie (Black Line) and Corrine Hall (Storey Racing) added to yesterday’s gold in the 1km time-trial by storming to the gold in the women’s B individual pursuit.
It was a dominant display against world champions Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl, with Fachie and Hall almost making the catch, and went on to win in a time of 3:21.765.
Speaking after their win, Fachie said:
“I don’t think we expected to go that quick. The plan was just to ride hard, there was one word we said to each other going into that and the word was just ‘commit’ and I think that’s what we did.”
Stephen Bate (Private) and Chris Latham (Private) took the gold in the men’s B individual pursuit, finishing with a time of 4:04.32, while a time of 4:15.05 seconds earned Chris McDonald (PDQ Cycle Coaching) and Adam Duggleby (ADDFORM - VIVE LE VELO) the silver medal.
Christopher Wilkins (FTP-Fulfil The Potential-Racing) and Henry Latimer (TAAP Kalas) took the bronze with a time of 4:32.915.
Men’s team sprint
Team Inspired A took the top spot in the men’s team sprint, beating Team Inspired B for the title, while ESV Manchester brought it home for the bronze.
Having qualified fastest on 43.684, Team Inspired A of Ed Lowe, Hayden Norris and Harry Ledingham-Horn showed their fine form to knock out HUUB BCC RT B in the semi-final and set up a gold medal race against Team Inspired B.
The A team were quick off the mark with the B team of Marcus Hiley, Harry Radford and Joe Truman neck in neck throughout the race, but Team Inspired A managed to win the title on 43.517 - a tenth quicker than their teammates.
Oliver Aloul, Tom Morrissey and Matt Rotherham managed to round off the podium in bronze for ESV Manchester, beating Enhanced’s Ben Gill, Bo Mayer and Oliver Pettifer. Enhanced started strongly, but a flying Rotherham managed to wrestle back the lead to secure the medal.
Speaking on their win, Ledingham-Horn said:
“I feel amazing! It was a close final, it was nerve-wracking, and we knew it was going to be fast. I don’t think I’ve ever raced in front of a crowd this big. You can hear the noise and it really pushes you on.”
Women’s individual pursuit
Kate Richardson (Lifeplus-Wahoo) qualified fastest in 3:29.255 to face Frankie Hall (DAS - Handsling Bikes) in the gold medal ride off. Richardson dominated from the start and was up two seconds at the halfway point. She made the catch with a lap to spare.
Izzy Sharp (Lidl-TREK) took the bronze after going almost four seconds behind. A big penultimate lap reeled Maddie Leech (Lifeplus Wahoo) back in and Sharp took third in a time of 3:36.468.
Claiming her first individual national title, Richardson said:
“I felt in really good shape coming into the championships – this was the competition that I really wanted to perform in.
“Through Covid-19, we had gotten used to having no crowds so it’s amazing to have full stands again. It’s mad how much it eases the pain in your legs, it’s just so nice to have people back in the crowds again – it makes such a difference.”
Men’s 1km time-trial
Aaron Pope (University of Exeter CC) came back from over half a second down to take gold in the men’s 1km time-trial. Pope set a time of 1:02.172 to knock Niall Monks (Glasgow Track RC) off the top spot, whose 1:02.31 run was good enough for second place.
The 16-year-old Henry Hobbs (Willebrord Wil Vooruit), having only finished his GCSE’s a few months ago, claimed the bronze with a time of 1:02.574.
Pope said: “I was bricking it. I wasn’t going to ride this morning, I had a bit of a meltdown so I went to Greggs and had three steak bakes and at the last minute decided to race. It was just pedal hard and hang on.”
Men’s and women’s C1-5 pursuit
In the men’s C4-5 individual pursuit, Archie Atkinson (Para-T) recorded a new national record as he raced to the gold medal in a time of 4:30.477 in front of a home crowd.
Archie said: “I'm very proud of it, a national record as well which is a bonus. It's a home velodrome for me so it was nice to win in front of a home crowd as well, it adds that little bit more to the victory.
Blaine Hunt (Para-T) took the silver with a time of 4:33.984, while Will Bjergfelt (AeroCoach) came third with a time of 4:35.693.
Meanwhile, in the men’s C1-2 individual pursuit, Matthew Robertson (Woolwich CC) took the gold in a time of 3:41.933 while Ryan Taylor (Ilkeston Cycle Club) took the silver in 3:44.738. In the men’s C3 individual pursuit, Finlay Graham (Para-T) was crowned the champion after also setting a national record in a time of 3:23.921. Teammate Jaco van Gass claimed second in 3:27.809, while the bronze medal was awarded to Jacob Smith (Private).
Daphne Schrager (DI MASCIO) claimed her second national title of the weekend, having been crowned in the women’s C1-5 individual pursuit as she stormed to victory in 3:30.289. Amelia Cass (Loughborough Students CC) took the silver in a time of 3:45.894, while Morgan Newberry (Loughborough Lightning) claimed the bronze with a time of 3:57.573.
Talking through the race, Schrager said:
“It was brutal from start to finish. I was hoping just to do a solid ride which I delivered. I'm not an underdog anymore, I've performed on the world stage so there is a bit more expectation. I did the best I could on the day, we learn lots from it but there's a lot more to give!”
Tomorrow the riders will battle it out in the final day of competition, with the men’s and women’s keirin, para-cycling men’s and women’s B sprint, men’s and women’s team pursuit, men’s scratch race and women’s points race titles up for grabs.
