Laura Trott (Great Britain) with gold in the scratch race over Kirsten Wild (Ned) and Stephanie Roorda (Canada)(Image credit: Simon Wilkinson / SWpix.com)
Laura Trott on the podium for winning the Scratch Race(Image credit: SWpix.com)
Laura Trott signing rainbow jerseys(Image credit: SWpix.com)
Laura Trott (Great Britain) took gold in the scratch race(Image credit: Simon Wilkinson / SWpix.com)
Laura Trott (GBr) wins the scratch race over Kirsten Wild (Ned)
Laura Trott won her first world title in two years in the Scratch Race at the World Track Championships in London on Thursday. It was Great Britain's first gold medal of the championships after two days of mixed results in both the sprint and endurance races.
Trott's ride in the Scratch Race saw the 23-year-old ride at her instinctive best. Despite the field attempting to mark her out of the race she covered moves, tested her rivals and even when defeat looked certain with five laps to go, she shut down a break and held off Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) and Stephanie Roorda (Canada) in the sprint.
At the line, Trott made sure to compliment her a coach, an aspect that has been missing from a fair few British riders in these championships.
"I'm so happy. I just can't thank Paul Manning enough for the work he's put in for me in the bunch races and in particular the Scratch Race. I know it not an Olympic event, but it means a lot to me because last year in Paris that was the event in the Omnium that let me down. We've worked so hard on it over the last 10-12 months, so I'm just so happy that it's finally paying off and I've finally got the confidence that I need to go into that Omnium," she said.
The Scratch Race was not Trott's first outing on the track on Thursday, but it was certainly the most rewarding. In the first session of the day she had featured in the women's team pursuit with the home nation delivering a hugely disappointing ride that means they can only attain a bronze medal – at best – in the championships.
Ever the optimist, Trott sought out the positive aspect.
"In the team pursuit, unless you race on the limit you don't know what your limit is. I guess we found what the limit was at a world championships but it's not over and we can still race for a bronze medal and we can still put out a decent time. That event is not over with. I just needed to put it to the back of my mind. Reset and start again."
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Great Britain needed Trott more than ever, and although the men's pursuit and Becky James in the Keirin medalled too, Trott lifted the mood that had set in around the Great Britain camp.
"It's incredible. It's not the same because I'm celebrating on my own a little bit here. It's my second individual title and I kind of almost forgot what the Omnium individual felt like so to win today gave me that buzz back in terms of what I strive to achieve," she said.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
