Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s riders took medals galore in the European Track Championships this week, with British riders Laura Trott and Elinor Barker, and Italian Beatrice Bartelloni all coming away with silverware. Trott and Barker dominated the Individual Pursuit, the Points Race, with Trott also taking the Omnium, but the championship began with Beatrice Bartelloni taking bronze for Italy in the Team Pursuit.
After previously being run over three thousand metres, with three riders, the event has been extended by another kilometre and another rider, to be the same as the men’s event, on the run up to the Rio Olympics.
“I’m pretty happy with the result even if I wanted to do more,” said Bartelloni. “Doing four thousand metres is a very different previous race. It’s longer and more tiring, but I love to do because my heart and legs support me.
“I can’t wait to race in the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling jersey again, and be able to help others to achieve their goals,” she added.
Day two saw Trott and Barker qualify as first and second in the Individual Pursuit, which meant that the two British Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling teammates faced each other in the race for the Gold Medal. The final went with the qualification rides, with 21-year-old Trott beating 18-year-old Barker, in a time of 3:32.478, in the event that is still run over three thousand metres for women.
“It was weird racing against Laura but it did take the pressure off a bit,” smiled Barker after her silver medal time of 3:37.468. “It was really nice to have the two of us on the podium and I’m happy with how I rode, always nice to get a PB!”
For Trott, the first title of her weekend was an important step as she seeks to improve in one of the key disciplines of her specialist event, the Omnium.
“I’m not really a fan of IPs but we had been learning how to ride them more efficiently so it was really satisfying to see that I had done a good time,” she said. “Having Elinor in the race was good especially once I realised that we qualified first and second.
“The final was really a win-win situation after that.”
There was more win-win for Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s riders in the Points Race on day three, as Trott and Barker finished the race in first and second place again. The two Britons were among only four riders to gain a lap on the rest of the field, with Trott taking a total points haul of 41, and Barker 32.
“We were both very happy with the points race, getting gold and silver, as it was a really tough race with lots of people taking laps and attacking all over the place,” Barker explained. “The scratch race didn’t go as well as we were pretty much watched all race which made any kind of move difficult to do.
Trott then followed her Points Race triumph with a victory in the Omnium, the event in which she is World and Olympic champion. Despite a disappointing ninth in the Points Race, Trott was victorious in the Elimination, the Individual Pursuit and the 500 metre time trial to finish on 20 points at the end of the six events, four points ahead of her nearest rival.
“Laura’s omnium started a bit worse than she would have liked and she was fifth after the first two event,” Barker explained, “but as usual she got the ball rolling in the elimination race and climbed her way bak to the top by the end!”
