Emma Finucane powered to sprint victory on the opening night at Lee Valley VeloPark as she stunned the British crowd in the fourth round of the UCI Track Champions League.

A second place in the keirin saw the Welsh woman close the gap in the sprint standings ahead of the Grand Finale tomorrow night, while Katie Archibald continued to hold onto the endurance lead after a tough night of racing. 

Sprint races

Women

There was delight for the British crowd as Finucane showed her class to take victory in the women’s sprint.

The world champion got the upper hand on New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews in the final showdown. Sailing through the first round and semi-finals relatively unchallenged, Finucane took the inside line on the final lap and held her nerve to take a fine win over the Olympic champion, claiming maximum points to move up to fourth in the overall TCL standings.

Finucane reflected on her sprint win, saying: 

“It is the best feeling ever. I really wanted to come here and win in front of this crowd. Obviously, it is difficult with really good competitors in the women’s sprints. When I made it to the sprint final alongside the Olympic champion, I had to dig deep, and I am really happy with how I raced that. 

“I crossed the line first and the crowd were just screaming. It is such an insane feeling. I celebrated so hard, because you don’t know when it might happen again. The home crowd is so special. 

“I am excited and confident heading into tomorrow. My legs seem to be going ok, back-to-back racing is tough. But I will take what I’ve learned tonight and enjoy it again!”

Andrews reached the final after getting the better of British duo Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant in a tight semi-final. Marchant led it out initially, moving the pace along in the opening exchanges, however, as they reached the bell, Capewell surged on the inside to take the prime position on the final lap. The Kiwi stayed with the Briton and had the decisive sprint to advance to the final.

Finucane followed up her win in the sprint with a second place in the women’s keirin final, as she was narrowly pipped on the line by series leader, Alina Lysenko.

The Briton drew first behind the derny, but as the race opened up, the Dutch riders moved up, with Finucane fighting for the front. On the final lap, she was lifted by a vociferous home crowd, but a sublime late charge by Lysenko saw her take the honours to extend her lead heading into the finale on Saturday. 

Capewell was just edged out to third in the first round, while Marchant battled for position in the closing stages of her first-round heat in a scrappy contest that saw her exit the competition.

Men

Buoyed by the home crowd, Matt Richardson gave everything as he attempted to once again take the scalp of Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) in the men’s sprint races.

In the sprint final against Lavreysen, Richardson went high as they hit the bell, building momentum going into the last lap, but the Dutchman found the extra acceleration to seal another TCL victory and extend his series lead.

Richardson had earlier sailed through with ease in his first-round match and semi-final, saluting the crowd after powering home on both occasions, and setting him in good stead for tomorrow’s final round.

It was once again a battle for the front in the men’s keirin final, with a huge turn of speed from Richardson in the penultimate lap seeing him cling to the front. It was a little too soon though, with Richardson crossing the line in third after a first round victory.

Despite a strong fight from Harry Ledingham-Horn in both sprint races, he was unable to progress to the finals.

Endurance races

Women

The first scratch race of the evening saw Katie Archibald cling on to take second in a tight finish on the line. A three-rider breakaway set the pace early on, before Archibald took to the front of the chasing group with eight laps remaining. 

The Scottish rider continued to drive down the gap, with help from Scottish teammate Neah Evans, making the catch. Coming round the final bend, it was all to play for, but Anita Stenberg (Denmark) just edged out Archibald for the win. Anna Morris took a brilliant fourth place, with Evans hanging on for sixth and Jess Roberts in 11th. 

A battling elimination race saw Morris take the top British spot in sixth place. Roberts was first to be caught out in 16th, before Evans paid for her early efforts on the front to finish in 12th. Archibald pinned herself to the black line in signature style but was just edged out in ninth place. Another very close call saw Morris in a six-way battle to the line but was pinched to sixth place.

Men

A swift start in the men’s scratch race saw Will Tidball and Will Perrett riding strongly, before Philip Heijnen (Netherlands) started to stretch out the bunch in the final 10 laps. He continued to extend his lead, with Alex Vogel (Switzerland) bridging over to create a half lap lead. Attacks off the bunch saw them joined by four others, including Tidball. With three laps to go, Tidball led the front bunch, but as the pace ramped up, a last gasp effort saw him take sixth. Will Perrett came home 13th. 

In the elimination, Perrett was knocked out in 15th, while Tidball kept out of trouble into the final stages. A tense last few laps saw Tidball cling on, before being eliminated in fifth place.

Tomorrow will see all 11 British riders compete in their final races of the year at the Grand Finale.