Day 1 Round-up
The roundup from a breathless first day of the UCI Cycling World Championships.
Two venues, hundreds of athletes from around the world, 11 rainbow jerseys
The opening day of the 2023 Cycling World Championships has been dominated by the action at Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow, while off-road action also got underway with the Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s downhill MTB Qualifiers in Fort William.
First rainbow jersey of the games decided
For the first time in Cycling World Champs history, track and para-track cyclists were sharing the boards at the same event at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the first night of finals already hasn’t disappointed.
Japan’s Keiko Sugiura won the first title of this year’s World Championship, beating the Netherland’s Aniek van den Aarssen – last year’s women’s C3 individual pursuit number one – in a reversal of the 2022 gold medal race.
More winners crowned, including Team GB’s first gold
In addition to Sugiura’s win mentioned above, there have also been rainbow jerseys decided in a number of other para-track disciplines, including the men’s C4 individual pursuit and women’s C5 500m time trial. Team GB has also won its first world title of the championships – Jenny Holl and Sophie Unwin victorious in the women’s B 1km time trial.
Follow the live blog to keep up to date with the action and tune in live on BBC Three.
World record set
Jody Cundy threw down the gauntlet in the men’s C4 omnium, setting a new world record as the Team GB rider powered his way to first place in the 200m time trial with a 10.427, averaging a blistering 69kph.
Reigning world champions Great Britain crash out of the team pursuit
It wasn’t all good news for Team GB on the first day of the championships as Charlie Tanfield came down hard during the men’s team pursuit qualifiers, ending the trio’s chance of defending their world title. If there was one silver lining, it was that 26-year-old was able to get up and walk off the track without the assistance of medical staff. The competition continues tomorrow night, before the medals are decided on Saturday night.
Finalists sorted for junior men’s and women’s downhill MTB
While the velodrome witnessed the majority of the day’s action, the downhill MTB qualifiers also got things underway in Fort William. Both the junior men and junior women took to the Nevis Range’s iconic course for the first time, whittling down the field and sorting the start order ahead of tomorrow’s finals.
In the junior women’s, the Kiwis dominated proceedings as Erice Van Leuven and Poppy Lane took first and third place respectively with Team GB's Aimi Kenyon sandwiched between the two.
Ryan Pinkerton meanwhile was top of the pile in the junior men’s qualifiers; Dom Platt the best of Team GB’s riders in 4th.