A 29-strong Great Britain team which includes 11 current European champions and eight debutants are currently competing at the 2024 UEC Track Juniors/U23 European Championships at Cottbus Sport Centre Velodrome to contest European titles in both the under-23 and junior categories. You can find daily updates on performance here.
Day 1
Golden start in Germany!
Sophie Lewis picked up the Great Britain Cycling Team's first gold medal of the 2024 UEC Track Juniors/U23 European Championships, as she won the under-23 women's elimination race.
It was a formidable performance from Lewis, who used her knowledge from senior races at Nations Cups and the Track Champions League to stay out of trouble. She then outsprinted her Spanish rival to claim gold.
Later, the under-23 men's sprint team of Harry Ledingham-Horn, Marcus Hiley, Hayden Norris and Harry Radford took silver for GBCT's second medal of the night, narrowly missing out in their gold ride-off with Italy.
Other results saw the junior men's sprint team of Oliver Pettifer, Adam Murray, Archie Gill and Tom Morrissey finish fourth, while Esther Wong and Oliver Gill finished fifth and ninth in the junior women's and men's scratch races respectively.
Noah Hobbs was eighth in the under-23 men's elimination, with Izzy Sharp and Ben Wiggins eighth and 12th in the under-23 women's and men's individual pursuits.
Day 2
Day two in Cottbus saw a medal rush for the Great British Cycling Team, as they added six gongs to their 2024 UEC Track Juniors/U23 European Championships total.
Hayden Norris stormed to the European jersey in the under-23 men’s kilo, taking gold with an impressive 1:01.663. Teammate Harry Ledingham-Horn joined him on the podium, having ridden to bronze.
There was success for the under-23 women’s sprint squad, too, as Rhianna Parris-Smith, Rhian Edmunds and Iona Moir edged out their German rivals to take gold in the team sprint.
A third gold of the evening soon followed as Noah Hobbs timed his sprint to perfection to win the under-23 men’s scratch race title.
Both junior team pursuit squads made it on to the podium, with Imogen Wolff, Cat Ferguson, Erin Boothman and Carys Lloyd winning silver in the women’s race, while William Salter, Fin Tarling, Sam Fisher and Henry Hobbs secured bronze in the men’s.
Tom Morrissey finished eighth in the junior men’s kilo final.
Day 3
The Great Britain Cycling Team took their medal tally to double figures on day three of the 2024 UEC Track Juniors/U23 European Championships, as the under-23 women's team pursuit team struck gold.
Sophie Lewis, Maddie Leech, Grace Lister and Izzy Sharp came from behind in the final km of their gold medal ride against Switzerland, eventually finishing two seconds up on their rivals.
Erin Boothman won her second medal in as many days, after a smart ride in the junior women's elimination race saw her take bronze.
There were some sold efforts from the junior riders in their individual pursuits, with Imogen Wolff and Esther Wong finishing fifth and 10th in the women’s, while Henry Hobbs and Fin Tarling were sixth and 12th in the men’s.
Medals are also on the cards for our sprinters, with impressive riding from Rhian Edmunds and Georgette Rand seeing them qualify for the under-23 and junior women's semi-finals. Iona Moir and Sarah Johnson were knocked out in the 1/4 finals.
Day 4
It was an incredible day four at the 2024 UEC Track Junior/U23 European Championships for the Great Britain Cycling Team, as they added SEVEN medals to their tally, and took back top spot on the medal table.
There was success in both the junior omniums, as William Salter and Carys Lloyd both became European Champions.
Top-class riding from both throughout the day saw each of them go into the final points race in first place. From there both kept control of the pack to retain their leads and earn their jerseys.
There was sprint success, too, with Georgette Rand adding another European Jersey to her collection in the junior women’s sprint. Teammate Oliver Pettifer also found his way on to the top step, winning a thrilling junior men’s keirin. Adam Murray was 17th.
The medal haul then grew as Ben Wiggins added a silver in the under-23 men’s points race, with Maddie Leech winning bronze in the women’s race. Rhian Edmunds also scored bronze in the under-23 women’s sprint.
Day 5
The Great Britain Cycling Team added five more medals to their tally on the penultimate day of the 2024 UEC Track Junior/U23 European Championships in Germany.
Sprint sensation Georgette Rand added to her individual sprint victory on Friday by taking the European title in the junior women’s keirin with another expert ride. Teammate Sarah Johnson was seventh.
There was a silver medal for Noah Hobbs in the under-23 men’s omnium, his second medal of these championships after a gold in the scratch race.
Hayden Norris also added to his personal tally by taking silver in the under-23 men’s sprint - to go with his silver in the team sprint and gold in the kilo. Marcus Hiley just missed out on the podium in fourth, having been beaten by his teammate in the semi-finals.
In the under-23 women’s keirin, Iona Moir put in an impressive display to take a well deserved silver medal, with Rhian Edmunds in seventh. Sam Fisher added the team’s final medal of the day with a bronze in the junior men’s points race.
Elsewhere, Imogen Wolff finished ninth in a tough junior women’s points race and Sophie Lewis was 12th in the under-23 women’s omnium.
Day 6
It was a golden end to the 2024 UEC Track Junior/U23 European Championships for the Great Britain Cycling Team, as they added two more European titles to their medal haul on the final day.
The team return home top of the standings, having won 12 gold, eight silver and six bronze medals this week.
Georgette Rand added a glittering final touch to her competition by defending her junior women’s 500m TT title. It means the unstoppable youngster has swept all the individual titles at this week’s champs. Her teammate Sarah Johnson put in a solid ride to finish seventh.
Cat Ferguson and Carys Lloyd then added another gold to the tally, winning the junior women’s Madison in thrilling fashion - they pinched the title from their Italian rivals by crossing the line first in the final sprint.
More Madison success followed that as both the under-23 pairings of Maddie Leech and Grace Lister in the women’s and Ben Wiggins and Noah Hobbs in the men’s scored silver medals.
In the junior men’s Madison Fin Tarling and Henry Hobbs finished fifth.
Elsewhere, Harry Ledingham-Horn narrowly missed out on the bronze medal as he finished fourth in a photo finish in the under-23 men’s keirin. Hayden Norris was 12th.
Rhianna Parris-Smith and Iona Moir were fourth and sixth in the under-23 women’s 500m TT, while Oliver Pettifer and Archie Gill finished sixth and seventh respectively in the junior men's sprint.
Congratulations to all the team and staff on a brilliant week!
