Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling’s Laura Trott and Elinor Barker took the Gold and Silver Medals in the Commonwealth Games Points Race, on the boards of Glasgow’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, in the tightest possible finish to the 25km race. Both riders – riding for England and Wales respectively – finished tied on 37 points but, as Trott finished higher than Barker in the final sprint, the English rider was awarded the victory.
“I can’t believe it,” she told BBC Radio 5 live. “I felt so bad at times in that race. I’m not even 100%, I’ve not eaten properly for the last two days and I’ve been living off porridge. I’m not really a porridge fan.
“It’s right up there with the Olympics for me after the disappointment of the last two days. To pull it off at the end was great.
“[Elinor] is unbelievable,” Trott added, paying tribute to her Welsh teammate. “She’s not even a sprinter so normally she’d be going for the lap, but that shows what form she’s in. She got third in the [Scratch Race] sprint yesterday and then she almost won that in the sprint!”
Trott was the first of the home nations riders to take points, as she finished fourth on the first sprint lap, but Barker moved ahead of the double Olympic Champion with first place in the second. The rest of the race was to see the two Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling riders exchange the lead, as the challenge came from the strong teams of Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
The two riders – along with English Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling teammate Dani King – were among the eight riders that managed to gain a lap on the rest of the field in the course of the race. This gave them 20 points each, moving them clear of the others, but the sprints for points were to prove decisive between them.
Barker took five points in the ninth and penultimate sprint, giving her a one point lead over Trott, which meant that the final dash for the line was to provide decisive. Local rider Katie Archibald was the first over the line, to take the bronze for Scotland, but a tight sprint between Trott and Barker saw the English woman take three points to the Welshwoman’s two.
The tie in the two riders’ scores meant that those final sprint positions were to prove crucial, which meant that Trott took Gold and Barker Silver; the Welsh rider’s second medal of Glasgow 2014, after her Bronze Medal in yesterday’s Scratch Race.
Result
1. Laura Trott (England)
2. Elinor Barker (Wales)
3. Katie Archibald (Scotland)
7. Dani King (England)
15. Amy Roberts (Wales)
17. Joanna Rowsell (England)
