Saturday night’s alright for fighting, according to Elton John. Unless you’re Anna Morris, of course, in which case it’s the perfect time for individual pursuiting.
The world champion broke her own world record at the National Track Championships on Saturday evening, clocking 4:24.060 over the 4,000m. The moment marked the third time Morris has bettered the benchmark in a week, breaking it twice in one day last Saturday at the European Championships.
“I didn’t know how much I had in me,” Morris told Cycling Weekly in Manchester. “I’ve done a lot of racing over the last two weeks, and I wasn’t sure how much to give. Doing it on a home track and crowd, with everyone that’s supported me on this journey, the motivation was there to really dig deep.”
In the final, the 29-year-old caught and passed her opponent, Lidl Trek’s Izzy Sharp, with more than a kilometre to go, keeping her head down to finish strong.
The final four laps, she said, were “really biting – I’m glad that I had the crowd behind me to help me across the line."
During the evening session, the food kiosk at the top of the banking sold fruit pastille lollies for £2.50. It was a peculiar choice, still months away from summer, but there was perhaps demand. The temperature was notably warmer inside the velodrome on day two of the championships, the heating ramped up in a bid to improve atmospheric conditions, and lend Morris a hand in breaking her record.
“That’s news to me,” Morris laughed on hearing about the heating boost. “They probably left me to it, maybe. [The world record]’s something to get excited about, and I’m sure it’s going to keep coming down this year.
“There are a lot of people that are going to be chasing after that record, and I’m excited to see it. It’s great for women’s sport seeing a new event [Ed. - the women's individual pursuit has been increased from 3km to 4km this season] people can get excited about, and follow along as it progresses.”
BELL TAKES KEIRIN FLYER
A hundred metres or so away from the racing inside the Manchester Velodrome, Snow Patrol were performing for fans at the city's Co-op Live Arena. Still, while the Northern Irish rockers played ‘Chasing Cars’ to fans, riders in the keirin final chased Lauren Bell, the event’s tearaway winner.
Starting on the front, the defending champion quickly found herself with a small gap, and decided to attack as the derny pulled away. Emma Finucane buried herself in pursuit, but over three laps Bell was able to hold the Olympic champion off and win.
“I’d rather lose having tried something, than be a passenger in the race,” the Scot said. “I just had to put down some heavy seated reps and just go. Luckily, it paid off. The pain was worth it.”
As Bell powered away in her effort, she revealed, a a simple mantra sounded in her head. "I used to live with Jack Carlin, he’s one of my good pals, and he always says to me, ‘Get your elbows in! Get your elbows in!’," she said. "I was trying to be aero to hold on. Near the end, I was gurning and my elbows were coming out. It was rough."
There was success for the defending champion in the men’s points race, too, as Will Perrett made it three victories on the trot.
In previous years, the GB elite squad rider has run away with the event, taking lap gains at will. He was brought down to the wire on Saturday, though, by 17-year-old Henry Hobbs, who missed out on the title by just one point.
“I was pushed really close,” Perrett said. “I knew it’d be a bit more of a battle, a bit more of a challenge, and I wouldn’t be able to take laps for fun. I did go solo for large portions of it, but I was chased incredibly hard by some really strong bike riders.”
Matthew Richardson earned his second British national title in as many days, this time in the team sprint. The triple Olympic medallist rode in a team with Niall Monks – a rider he coaches – and Lyall Craig – a rider he used to coach – as well as 21-year-old Harry Ledingham Horn.
ATKINSON BACKS UP HYPE
Also on Saturday, para-cyclist Archie Atkinson crossed off another tally on his pledge to go three from three in his events over the weekend, adding the C4 individual pursuit title to the one he gained in the kilometre time trial on Friday.
Wearing an all-white skinsuit as the world champion, the 20-year-old lapped his opponent three times in the final, the first after little more than two laps of the 16-lap event.
“I didn’t really push it that much,” Atkinson smiled at the end, before looking ahead to Sunday’s team sprint. “Two down, one to go.”
In the tandem kilometre time trial, Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl added another national title to their count, meaning the pair currently hold four across road and track, plus two Paralympic titles. James Ball and Steffan Lloyd won the men's event.
Elsewhere, there were C-class individual pursuit titles for Amelia Cass, Morgan Newberry, Matthew Robertson, Fin Graham and Xavier Disley.
Disley won the C5 event in a nail-biting finish, trailing in the final few laps, but coming back to win by one second. “My sister came up last minute to come and watch, and my wife was giving me splits trackside,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I’m really happy.”
There is now just one day remaining at this year's National Track Championships, which will come to a close on Sunday afternoon.
