| Cycling – World Track Championships |
|---|
| Venue: Pruszkow, Poland Dates: 27 February-3 March |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC Red Button, iPlayer, Connected TVs, BBC Sport website and app. |
Britain’s Ethan Hayter took bronze after losing out late on in the points race of the men’s omnium at the Track Cycling World Championships in Poland.
Hayter had looked set to add a gold to the silver medal he won in the men’s team pursuit on Thursday.
But with 16 laps of the 25km distance left, New Zealand’s Campbell Stewart gained a crucial lap to win gold.
And the 20-year-old Hayter was then edged out in the final sprint as France’s Benjamin Thomas took silver.
It ensured a breathless conclusion to the multi-race event but one that appeared tinged with disappointment for Hayter.
Britain drop to fourth in the medal table in Pruszkow with the final day of the event on Sunday.
‘I panicked when that lap went’
The race leader going into the evening session, Hayter looked comfortable until the closing stages of the points race.
He had finished fourth in the 10km scratch race, first in the tempo race – over the same distance – and seventh in the elimination race before the points race.
But his failure to track Stewart and Thomas saw his hopes of a first individual gold at the Track World Championships disappear.
“I just didn’t follow (Stewart),” Hayter said. “I should have. I had the legs to do it. To be honest, I let it get to my head a bit.
“Normally I’m quite clever, I follow a lot of the right moves but early on I did way too much. I panicked when that lap went.
“My decision-making went out the window. I guess it’s inexperience.”
‘I went into holiday mode’
Elinor Barker missed out on a second medal at the event as she finished fourth in the women’s madison with Neah Evans.
Barker, who won the scratch race, was riding with Evans after Katie Archibald was concussed in a crash on Friday.
Kirsten Wild took her second gold in 24 hours as the Netherlands won, with Australia second and Denmark in third.
The race was neutralised late on after a crash saw New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond taken away on a stretcher.
Britain’s hopes of winning a medal were not helped when Worlds debutant Evans, 28, crashed at the halfway stage of the 30km race.
While she got straight back up, the hastily constructed pairing lost momentum in one of the most technically demanding events and ultimately lost out to a late Danish breakaway.
“I wasn’t [prepared]. I went into holiday mode a little bit because I never thought I’d be doing it [the madison],” Barker said.
“I should have got my head in the game when Katie did the omnium. I saw the Danes go and I just didn’t have the legs to go with it. We knew it was going to happen so we’re really disappointed with that moment.”
Early exits elsewhere
Earlier, Jack Carlin and Joe Truman were eliminated from the men’s sprint before the quarter-finals.
Carlin, 21, who collected a silver medal in the event in Apeldoorn in 2018, lost out to Russia’s Denis Dmitriev.
Truman won his heat against Australia’s Nathan Hart but the 22-year-old was relegated for riding on the blue band at the bottom of the track.
Katy Marchant and Vicky Williamson also struggled the women’s 500m time trial with both failing to advance from the qualifying round.
Marchant finished 14th with Williamson back in 22nd as the top eight riders progressed.
