Ben Swift won Great Britain's second gold of the opening night of competition, his first ever world title in a gutsy victory in the men's scratch race. Swift held off a late surge by South Africa's Nolan Hoffman to win the men's 15-kilometer scratch race. Wim Stroetinga of the Netherlands finished third.
Swift chased down Austria Andreas Mueller and Italy's Elia Viviano who had surged ahead of the field with seven laps remaining.
With one lap to go, and with his escape companions tiring, Swift surged ahead with a margin just enough to hold off the remnants of the field.
"I knew somebody was going to attack in the finish, and just tried to play it cool and make other people chase. It's definitely the hardest I've ever had to work for a track cycling race," Swift said.
Hoffman explained that his result was somewhat of a breakthrough.
"I've been to all the world cups and I've struggled a bit and I always thought the world champs is going to be hard," Hoffman said.
| 1 | Ben Swift (Great Britain) |
| 2 | Nolan Hoffman (South Africa) |
| 3 | Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands) |
| 4 | Alex Frame (New Zealand) |
| 5 | Martin Blaha (Czech Republic) |
| 6 | Lucas Liß (Germany) |
| 7 | Sunjae Jang (Korea) |
| 8 | Angel Dario Colla (Argentina) |
| 9 | Pablo Aitor Bernal Rosique (Spain) |
| 10 | Vivien Brisse (France) |
| 11 | Edison Bravo (Chile) |
| 12 | Franco Marvulli (Switzerland) |
| 13 | Pavel Gatskiy (Kazakhstan) |
| 14 | Andreas Mueller (Austria) |
| 15 | Ivan Savitsky (Russian Federation) |
| 16 | Alexander Edmondson (Australia) |
| 17 | Hariff Salleh (Malaysia) |
| 18 | Aliaksandr Lisouski (Belarus) |
| 19 | Moreno De Pauw (Belgium) |
| 20 | Bobby Lea (United States of America) |
| 21 | Elia Viviani (Italy) |
-
Tour of the Gila: Lauren Stephens extends her women's GC lead with stage 2 solo win while Robinson López takes men's victory atop Mogollon climb
Elite men's race explodes on final ascent with Modern Adventure Pro's Kieran Haug one second behind Colombian in second -
'You can feel the difference this year' - After being relegated from the WorldTour, Cofidis' new strategy for points is paying off
Fewer WorldTour races, more opportunities for French squad -
'A 10-hour race is my favourite' - A fourth title and french fries on the agenda at Traka 360 for Mattia de Marchi
Three-time winner leading his new team, The Grip in gravel endurance event -
'The time for endlessly debating and re-diagnosing the problem has passed' – Rapha launches updated 'Roadmap' for the future of cycling as UCI consultation period concludes
Clothing brand releases lengthy 10-point plan to improve all areas of professional cycling
