Lauren Bell finished the 2020 HSBC UK | National Championships on a high by claiming the women’s 500m time-trial title – adding to the keirin crown that she clinched last night.
The 20-year-old set a blistering time of 34.305 and was the only rider to go break the 35 seconds mark. Emma Finucane was the closest to Bell, but was still nine tenths off the pace.
Bell said: “It’s been the best weekend ever, really. There’s such a strong pool of girls at the minute, that I just wanted to come here and get the experience of racing the best girls and see how it went. This is mad!”
However, there was still another medal to win. The Scot combined with Scotland A team-mate Ellie Stone to win bronze in the team sprint. However, the Slingshot duo Milly Tanner and Blaine Ridge-Davis were victorious on this occasion.
Huub Wattbike continued their fine form and added to their medal haul, beating Team Inspire in the men’s team pursuit final to win gold – setting the fastest time ever seen in Manchester in front of a sold out crowd at the HSBC UK National Cycling Centre.
Afterwards, John Archibald explained: “We always enjoy coming to nationals – it’s something we love doing as a group and it means a lot to us. It’s not like we ever just expect to win; we’ve all come from a place where a national title could be the pinnacle of what you achieve, so to come here and win again is very special.”
Joe Truman of Team Inspire won the men’s Keirin, timing his sprint to perfection to beat Matthew Roper (silver) and Niall Monks (bronze).
“It was a good race by Roper – I was happy that I had it under control, but I probably shouldn’t have let it go that far! I got a bit of a hit in the semi-finals as well, which was good practice. It’s a good race here – I never pass up the chance to race a keirin,” said Truman.
Team Breeze’s Anna Shackley took gold in the women’s points race – leading for 20 of the 80 laps, with the bunch remaining behind by a considerable distance. Shackley won the title by a single point with Jenny Holl winning silver and Sophie Lewis taking bronze.
The men’s scratch race concluded the championships and Rhys Britton won the final gold medal of the weekend, adding to his points race triumph last night. Max Rushby and Ethan Vernon took silver and bronze to ensure that Team Inspire finished with a one, two, three.
Image credit: SWpix
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