Home fans lift Christian and Doull to cycling World Cup gold
BySportsbeat
Updated 07/12/2014 at 18:00 GMT
Mark Christian admits home advantage made all the difference after he and Owain Doull secured madison gold on day two of the London Track Cycling World Cup.
Gold medalists Britain's Mark Christian (L) and Owain Doull (R) (GBR1) on the podium after winning the Men's Madison Final at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velopark in east London, on December 6, 2014 (AFP)
Image credit: AFP
The duo were part of the British quartet that won gold in the team pursuit on Friday but shrugged off any fatigue to triumph in the 120-lap race.
The pair dug deep to take a lap on the rest of the field at the Lee Valley VeloPark Velodrome, pushing New Zealand and German pairs into second and third respectively.
And Christian believes there wasn’t a more perfect way to round off their World Cup weekend.
"That's a good way to finish the racing for us," he said. "It’s great to come away with the team pursuit gold medal in the way we did on Friday and in here again, what a race to be part of.
"Everyone's mentioned the crowd and I'm going to do it again. I can't thank the crowd enough for the lift they give you.
"The atmosphere that's generated in here is incredible – it is an advantage, definitely."
There was more joy on the track as Elinor Barker took Britain’s medal haul to four with a bronze in the points race.
Barker was also pulling double duty, having triumphed in the women’s team pursuit, and gained a lap en route to a total of 27 points with Australia’s Amy Cure and Canada’s Jasmin Glaesser finishing first and second.
And the 20-year-old claims that a podium place was far more than she expected.
"I’m really happy with that, especially after having three team pursuit rides on Friday, really happy," said Barker.
"I didn’t think I was going to get a medal – it took me a while to get it into it."
Barker’s team pursuit companion Laura Trott looks poised for a second medal as she leads the women’s omnium heading into the final day.
But there was disappointment for Jason Kenny as he missed out on the medals in the keirin final while Jess Varnish and Vicky Williamson both exited the women’s sprint before the quarter-finals.
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