Worlds: Australia opens medal account at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome

The ARA Australian Cycling Team has wasted no time on the opening day of the UCI Cycling World Championships, winning three medals at the the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.

The venue hosted medal events in a combined able and para-cycling track program, the first of seven days of track racing.

Paige Greco makes history

In the opening event of the night, Paige Greco made history by becoming the first rider to win a medal of any colour at a combined UCI Cycling World Championships, taking bronze in the women’s C3 individual pursuit.

Over 3,000 metres, the Queenslander stopped the clock in 3:56.929 to beat Sweden’s Anna Beck by a comfortable margin.

It was a superb result considering this was Greco’s first competition since being hospitalised after a major crash in April.

“It feels really special to win the first medal of the championships,” Greco said.

“It feels great to be back competing for medals and getting on the podium after crashing early this year at a Road World Cup. I wouldn’t be here without my awesome support team around me.”

Gallagher and Ward denied by incredible margin

Earlier in the day, Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward posted the second-fastest qualifying time in the women’s B 1km time trial.

The pair then went to the top of the standings in the final with a time of 1:08.362.

Having emptied the tank, they limped along the track apron, crumpled on the staircase, and nervously watched their final competitors, Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl from Great Britain.

The early splits were pointing in the right direction for the Aussies, holding a one-second advantage at every time check.

But the home riders lifted to another level and clawed back the distance on the final lap, eclipsing Gallagher and Ward’s time by 0.060 seconds, less than the blink of an eye.

“It hurts a lot. Six one-hundredths of a second over one kilometre. It’s a brutal event, but to win silver and lose gold by six one-hundredths hurts a lot,” Gallagher said.

“Six one-hundredths of a second is nothing, essentially. Bittersweet; we’re very proud of silver, but you can’t deny that we would’ve like to have been six one-hundredths of a second the other side of the fence.”

Darren Hicks collects more silverware in the IP

On Thursday, South Australia’s Darren Hicks qualified second-fastest in the men’s C2 individual pursuit, posting an Australian record time of 3:33.186.

Hicks won this event in 2019, but was forced to settle for silver this time around after being caught by French rival Alexandre Leaute in the deciding race.

Hicks said he’d adopted an overly aggressive pacing strategy for the final.

“I went in with a plan to try something new, which is why I exploded pretty badly. The intention was to go out harder, and instead of trying a point-two, try to do a two-second PB, which in reality was never going to happen as a second ride,” he said.

“Shame to put that out to the world on TV and not necessarily look like it was a great ride. Yesterday was a great ride when we wanted it. Today was a bit of a trial, a bit of fun.”

Hicks was buoyed by his qualifying time and already has one eye on the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

“I haven’t ridden very well for probably two years on the track, so to actually get the ride far better than we planned was why we were so over the moon,” he explained.

“Point-two of a PB is not huge, but it’s a step in the right direction again to show myself, and the whole team, that I’m still capable of what I was in 2019 and 2020, and looking forward to 2024.”

In other results, Josh Duffy finished ninth in the elite men’s scratch race. The Tasmanian looked to be in good position with two laps to go, having followed Dutch rider Roy Eefting-Bloem to the front end of the bunch.

However, Duffy found himself stuck on the hip and unable to follow when the winning acceleration came from British rider William Tidball.

For more coverage of the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the UCI Cycling World Championships, visit our Glasgow 2023 Hub. To subscribe to daily updates, click here.

Photos: SWpix/Charlie Forgham-Bailey