Worlds: Fifth for Rebecca Henderson in short track

Rebecca Henderson has finished fifth in the short track at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships at Glentress, Scotland.

Forty-two riders from 22 nations lined up for the elite women with Henderson to start on the second row.

With 10 laps in front of them, Henderson was up with the leading group early which included defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and hometown favourite Evie Richards.

The multiple Australian champion looked composed and a real threat for the medals as she established herself in a six-rider breakaway at the halfway mark as they stretched the lead to the chasing group.

Rebecca Henderson finished fifth elite women XCC (Alex Broadway/SWpix.com)

Henderson was sitting in fourth heading out on the final lap and it didn’t take long for Ferrand-Prevot to make the decisive move and ride her way to another world championship title.

But, for Australia's two-time Worlds medalist, there were positive signs ahead of Saturday’s XCO.

“It’s really nice to feel like when I push there is some power behind the legs, and to be in the mix is great.”

In the elite men XCC, the Aussies of Sam Fox and Cameron Ivory were part of a stacked 75-rider field.

Sam Fox finished 30th in elite men XCC (Thomas Maheux/SWPix.com)

Fox had an excellent start to push up to 15th after the first lap, but the pace was unrelenting as the field put on the afterburners around the tight, short circuit.

By midway, the gaps had started to appear with Fox and Ivory unable to stick with the front riders.

Fox would finish in 30th nearly a minute behind the winner, with Ivory in 41st.

New Zealand’s Sam Gaze would defend the rainbow jersey taking the title by half a wheel to Frenchman Victor Koretzky and Pidcock in third.

It was a tough day for the junior XCO men in their six-lap world championship race at the Tweed Valley venue.

The Aussie boys in Cohen Jessen, Levi Dougherty and Jack Ward were caught up in a crash off the start line which saw them pushed even further to the back of the field.

However, the trio dusted themselves off to continue the battle with two of the three finishing on the lead lap.

Levi Dougherty finished 51st in junior XCO (Thomas Maheux/SWPix.com)

Ward was the best of the trio in 46th, with Dougherty 51st and Jessen, who was backing up from the junior men’s road race a few days earlier, crossing in 74th.

Results – XCC Elite Women

Rebecca Henderson – 5th

Results - XCC Elite Men

Sam Fox - 30th
Cameron Ivory - 41st

Results - XCO Junior Men

Jack Ward - 46th
Levi Dougherty - 51st
Cohen Jessen - 74th

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.com