by Katie Archibald took gold after returning from serious leg injuries as Great Britain successfully defended the women’s team pursuit title at the World Cycling Championships in Denmark.
Archibald’s hopes of further Olympic success in Paris were dashed when she suffered a broken tibia and fibula, a dislocated ankle and ligament damage in a freak accident in June when she tripped on a step in her garden.
The 30-year-old Scot was alongside Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Meg Barker – who were named in the final in place of Jess Roberts – as Team GB stormed to victory in Ballerup and secured another title in Germany.
“That’s not it [about] words [being back]“Archibald told BBC Sport afterwards. “It’s a deep breath, it’s the feeling of where you belong and which team you belong to and what a pleasure it is to be part of this team. “It’s very special.”
It was Great Britain’s second gold of the championship after the success of Olympic champions Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant in the team sprint on Wednesday. However, the men’s chasing team had to settle for silver after suffering a narrow defeat against hosts Denmark.
Ethan Hayter, Josh Charlton, Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood were ahead in the 1,000 meters. However, Denmark gained ground in the closing stages and took the lead as the teams dropped a rider and took gold – to the delight of a roaring home crowd.
“We gave it our all in that final and ended up losing just a little bit, but I think we got the best out of ourselves and that’s just how it is,” Tanfield said.
Elsewhere, Harry Ledingham-Horn finished fourth in the men’s keirin, while Noah Hobbs was sixth in the scratch race. Both men made their World Championship debuts. Sophie Lewis dropped out of the elimination race early and finished 15th overall.
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In qualifying for the women’s sprint, reigning world champion Finucane and Capewell both reached the semi-finals, but Marchant was edged out by Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands.
