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
Last Updated: 10/02/23 9:27pm
Katie Archibald celebrates her record 19th European title
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.
