Great Britain were forced to settle for silver in the women’s team sprint at the Track Cycling World Championships, narrowly missing out on gold to host nation China - despite one rider’s bike malfunctioning halfway through the race.
The British team - consisting of two Paris Olympic champions in Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell, as well as Rhianna Parris-Smith - had qualified in top spot but were pipped to gold in Shanghai by just one-third of a second.
It is a second world silver medal in a row for the team sprint squad, after Finucane, Parris-Smith and Iona Moir finished second behind the Netherlands in Santiago last year.
Capewell said: “We’ve had a lot of different teams over the last two years, I’ve been out with a bit of injury trouble, so to turn up today and get a silver medal is something I’m super proud of. All the girls have put out a great performance, and China have come out swinging at a home world championships. At the start of Olympic qualifying a silver is not too bad.
“That wasn’t the finished product for us, we’re actually a fairly new team, so there’s a lot more to come.
“My saddle snapped halfway through my lap so it was quite difficult staying up and finishing off my turn! We still put out a good ride considering but there was a lot more in there.”
Capewell rode in second position in the three-rider team and saw an early advantage built by Parris-Smith, in P1, turn into a small deficit as she struggled to hang on as a result of her saddle breaking. That left Finucane with too much time to make up on the trio of Jiang Yulu, Tong Mengqi, and Yuan Liying.
Germany took bronze, beating a team of Individual Neutral Athletes.
The British men’s team finished sixth, with overwhelming favourites the Netherlands taking gold from Australia. The British trio of Joe Truman, Harry Ledingham-Horn and Ed Lowe was somewhat hastily assembled after double European champion Matt Richardson was sent home from the squad due to an investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Truman said: “We came with a bit of a last-minute change, obviously. We all said this morning we're here just to ride our bikes.
“We're on the back foot a bit but let's just put our best foot forward, put a time on the board at the start of Olympic quali and we got a time to be proud of.
“None of us are riding in ideal circumstances but we're professional athletes and so it's what we train to do, we train to race when it's not perfect, so I think we did okay. We're looking ahead to the next couple of years and think we're in a great spot.”
Elsewhere on the opening day of the championships the British women’s and men’s team pursuit squads qualified in top spot and second-fastest respectively.
Read MoreBritain’s Matt Richardson sent home from World Championships over misconduct allegations
Doping protocols under scrutiny after cyclist tested just hours after mother’s death
Paul Seixas announces arrival with Il Lombardia triumph after riders stage protest over safety
Britain’s Richardson sent home from World Championships over misconduct allegations
Doping protocols under scrutiny after cyclist tested just hours after mother’s death
Paul Seixas announces arrival with Il Lombardia triumph after riders protest over
