Team GB have secured cycling silver in a gruelling women’s madison event, as the medals continue to pour in at the velodrome.
Elinor Barker and Neah Evans bagged Great Britain’s seventh medal in the sport in Paris this afternoon as they matched their total achieved in Tokyo three years ago.
The pair replaced the reigning Olympic champions Katie Archibald (who is injured) and Laura Kenny (who is retired) who clinched gold in the often chaotic team event in 2021.
They went into the race as hot contenders having won the format at the World Championships in Glasgow last year.
And despite taking an early lead in the velodrome today, the duo faded fast and were soon eclipsed by the Italian and Dutch teams, who left them in the bronze medal spot with what seemed to be a mountain to climb to turn it around.
But turn it around they did and a pulsating final sprint saw Barker speed past the Netherlands pair and drag Team GB to a silver medal finish.
The event consists of 120 laps divided into 12 sprints and, in each one, riders are handed out points depending on where they finish.
Five points are handed to first, three to second, two to third and just the one for fourth place, while a whopping 20 points are available if a team win by a lap/
The final race of the 12 is worth double points and this ended up making all the difference for Barker and Evans.
More to follow.