European Track Championships: Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker win madison gold

Cycling
Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker competing in the women's madison at the European Track Championships

Katie Archibald won her 20th European title as she and Great Britain team-mate Elinor Barker clinched madison gold in Grenchen.

The pair dominated the 120-lap race, finishing with 38 points – 13 more than silver medallists France, while Italy won bronze with 19.

Archibald and Barker now have 30 European titles between them.

Elsewhere on the final day of the championships in Switzerland, Emma Finucane won silver in the keirin.

The 20-year-old from Wales, who won silver in the team sprint on Wednesday, crossed the line 0.108 seconds behind Germany’s Lea Friedrich.

Scotland’s Archibald, who won the first women’s Olympic madison title with Laura Kenny in Tokyo, won her first European title 10 years ago in the team pursuit in Apeldoorn.

The madison win on Sunday is her third gold medal of the championships, having won the omnium earlier in the week as well as the women’s team pursuit.

“I’ve only missed one Europeans in my career, it’s the first thing I wore a GB jersey for,” she said.

“I was selected in 2013 to ride with El for the first time, and I’ve only missed once since then which was last year. It’ll now be my 10th season of having a European jersey and I’m proud every time I get to do that.”

Wales’ Barker, who also played a part in the team pursuit win, gave birth to her son in March 2022 and the European Championships marked her first major track competition since returning to the boards.

She said: “After team pursuit Katie said this is the day that we get to do the thing that we’re one of the best in the world at. We don’t get to do it very often, so let’s just go and enjoy it.

“For me it’s my first madison for a really long time. I used to do it all the time and maybe forgot quite how special it is, and it’s also a privilege to get to ride with somebody like Katie. What’s not to enjoy?”

GB finish the week with 12 medals, including four golds. It puts them second in the overall standings behind Germany, who won 13 medals.

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