Worlds: Double rainbow delight for Australia on the track

Australia has turned in a day of medals and memorable moments on Day 5 of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships track cycling.

A double rainbow jersey delight was delivered via Emily Petricola in the Women C4 individual pursuit and Alana Forster in the Women C5 Scratch Race for the ARA Australian Cycling Team.

But the success didn’t end there at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.

A special silver medal-winning Madison showing from dynamic duo Georgia Baker and Alexandra Manly had the crowd on the edge of their seat, and a trademark Gordon Allan sufferfest in the Men C2 1000m Time Trial delivered his third consecutive bronze medal in as many years in the Sydneysider’s pet event.

We’ll have more on those two medal-winning performances later today but for now, here’s your catch-up on Petricola and Forster’s day out in Glasgow.

‘I listened to the boss and attacked’: Forster’s world championship defining gamble

Alana Forster dared to dream when she attacked with five laps to go in the Women C5 Scratch Race. What followed was likely the longest five laps of her life in a velodrome.

With every lap that passed it seemed a foregone conclusion that the 37-year-old would be swept up by the bunch behind, but at every chance, they sat up. And while they did, Forster drove on.

It wasn’t until the final corner that the win looked safe, but when it was and the finish came, Forster couldn’t believe what she had just achieved.

“It feels pretty surreal, the crowd is pretty amazing out there. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that. It’s a roar every time you go past,” Forster said.

“I knew I probably had one, maybe two chances, and the pace was pretty high and a few of the girls started chopping and it just makes you a bit mad, and that’s probably a good impetus to get even.

“So, just had to use the bank as much as possible and I knew I couldn’t go too long because they’d mow me down, but I knew they’d probably wait a bit to chase.

“With three to go my legs were screaming and I looked back and I had a bit of a gap and there was no point looking back anymore so just kept spinning the legs and probably broke a few cadence records.

“Nick (Owen), my coach, said get angry and use my road skills to my advantage and I listened to the boss and attacked and had an aggressive race.”

Petricola wins fourth straight C4 IP world championship

Emily Petricola did Emily Petricola things on Monday night in Glasgow, winning her fourth consecutive Women C4 individual pursuit in dominant fashion.

The 43-year-old stopped the clock at 3:42.732, winning by a margin of nearly eight seconds ahead of Canadian Keely Shaw.

The win wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed by the dominant display, with Petricola full of nerves prior to starting her gold medal final.

“I was pretty nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve done an IP. This week has been the first time since last year’s worlds,” Petricola said.

“I was rusty and they were certainly not my two best performances but I’m pretty happy to walk away with the big gold medal.

“I think having five days between qualifying and the final is so unusual and it’s too long sitting around doing nothing and watching everyone else go and race every day.

“We’ve had to change my program to get through the upcoming road events, so it’s made it more challenging because of that but I’m still walking away with a gold medal.

“As critical as I’ll be about my performance, I’ll learn a lot from this, and we’ll do it differently next year in Paris, which is the more important event.”

For more coverage of the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the UCI Cycling World Championships, visit our Glasgow 2023 Hub.

Feature photo: Will Palmer/SWpix.com