Track Worlds Day 5: Great Britain capture gold medals in women's Madison, men's Elimination

Great Britain win by three points in crash-marred Madison

Great Britain's Neah Evans and Elinor Barker came out on top in a thrilling Women's Madison.

The duo were in the lead coming into the final sprint, preparing to take the points they needed to hold their advantage, but a crash involving Maike van der Duijn (Netherlands) and Martina Fidanza (Italy) led officials to stop the race to give the medics time to attend the fallen riders.

With both riders back on their feet and the track cleared, racing resumed with nine laps to race and Evans and Barker had to find their rhythm and make sure the Australian, French and Polish teams couldn't overtake them.

France won the final sprint with Australia in second, but Britain's points for fourth place were enough to secure the top spot - 28 points to second-placed Australia's 25. France finished third with 22.

"We thought on paper we'd have wrapped it up if it continued as it was we want to win, then obviously the restart like just keep it together. We still managed the situation," Evans said.

The Glaswegian earned the majority of the home crowd's raucous cheers, and Evans thoroughly enjoyed the victory.

"It's really nice that it came together and we came away World Champions because racing world championships in itself is special. And then to do it in front of home crowd on the velodrome I learned to ride on with so many people up in the stands just cheering you on - it's incredible."

Evans was nearly taken out in an earlier crash but showed cat-like reflexes as she rode over the bikes of fallen riders Ireland's Alice Sharpe and Australia's Alex Manly as they slid down the track, making a miraculous save to stay upright.

Manly got back in the race after the spill to help her team to the silver medal, with Georgian Baker taking second in the final sprint to seal the second place spot.

France's Clara Copponi and Victoire Berteau got over Poland in the final sprint to secure the bronze medal.

The French team took the early lead but couldn't match Great Britain as they were buoyed by the Scottish fans supporting their home rider Evans.

A mid-race breakaway from Australia and Poland could have threatened the home team's lead, but they bridged across to snap up points to solidify their lead with two sprints remaining.

The crash between Manly and Sharpe hardly disrupted the intense battle for the penultimate sprint, but the more serious fall between Consonni and Van der Duijn briefly brought the race to a halt.

The crash put the two out of the race and left Italy's Chiara Consonni had to try to hold the team's fourth place in the standings without her teammate, as did Marit Raaijmakers for the Netherlands.

Upon the restart, Great Britain did just enough to secure their victory to the delight of the crowd, while Poland got ahead of Italy into fourth, and the USA sprinted to sixth.

"I think I expected to have maybe four more pedal revs, swing Neah in - we were leading, and most likely gonna win last sprint, and it was all done," Barker said. "And then just as I get clear, the gun's gone, and it was just like, oh my God, we've done everything we needed to do, lined it up perfectly for last sprint, and I was like, empty. 

"It felt a little bit stressful, but I think in that situation, you just kind of have to remind yourself we're the lucky ones are still on track."

Ethan Vernon takes gold in Elimination Race

Ethan Vernon gave Great Britain their third gold medal of the team's home Track World Championships, surviving a crash in the closing laps of the Elimination Race and, after the race was briefly neutralised, attacking when there were only three riders left to claim the victory.

Canada's Dylan Bibic added silver to the world title in last year's Scratch Race, holding on as long as he could to the Briton as Italy's Elia Viviani had to let go and settle for third.

It was a relief for Vernon after his team pursuit squad crashed out of their main event in qualification.

"We worked really hard for the team pursuit, we dedicated the last few weeks for that. For that to go wrong in the qualification was a big disappointment for everyone. It's a setback but it meant Dan [Bigham] had to do his best to ride for yesterday [silver in the individual pursuit] and me win this Elimination today. We salvaged something from this Worlds."

"When we won the team pursuit last year it was our big goal, obviously this isn't an Olympic event but it's always nice to get the jersey."

There were two incidents that neutralised the race, with Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands) and Akil Campbell (Trinidad & Tobago) crashing and forcing officials to neutralise the race before the first elimination.

As the eliminations went on it was down to only eight riders when Ethan Vernon crashed with Buchli, forcing a second neutralisation.

After the re-start, Vernon parlayed the extra adrenaline from his crash and attacked with three riders left spitting Viviani out the back with Canadian Dylan Bibic the only other survivor. A surge from the Briton ended Bibic's hopes and the home crowd propelled Vernon to victory.

"I've learned from the previous years I got it wrong," Vernon said. "I couldn't work out the tactic, I just knew I had to save a bit more legs during the race for the end.

"[The crash] probably helped me, I came down but I was fine, I couldn't avoid the crash. Sometimes when you have a crash you get a bit more adrenaline than you had before. It gave me time to reassess and see who was left and work out what I was going to do to win."

While Vernon had focussed on the team pursuit, Bibic and Viviani raced with the fatigue of Sunday's Omnium in their legs, and the Canadian said he felt it but also was relieved to get some rest with the neutralisation.

"It was a very hard race, after yesterday I woke up ultra fatigued but I just got in that race mentality - I needed to walk away from this Worlds with something. I just did whatever it took."

Harrie Lavreysen wins fifth consecutive Sprint world title

Harrie Lavreysen secured his second world title at this World Championships as the fastest rider in the men's Sprint. The Dutch fast man also won the world title as part of the three-man team that won the men's Team Sprint last week.

Lavreysen has been undefeated in the Sprint event for five consecutive years, this time beating silver medallist Nicholas Paul (Trinidad & Tobago) in the final gold medal round. 

The victory marked his 13th career world title at the UCI Track World Championships across events; Sprint, Team Sprint, and Keirin.

"It's insane. It's cost me a lot. It was my fifth consecutive day of racing, so it takes a lot of energy and focus, but I really love it in the velodrome with the atmosphere. It was a really quick final, and this is the fifth; it's unbelievable," Lavreysen said.

In the bronze-medal round, Great Britain's Jack Carlin beat Poland's Mateusz Rudyk.