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Katie Archibald claims her second world omnium title with dominant display

The British track cyclist Katie Archibald has won her second world omnium title in Roubaix, winning all four events in a dominant all-round display.

The 27-year-old secured Great Britain’s first gold medal of this year’s world track championships in style, adding to her bronze in Thursday’s team pursuit. Archibald opened her account with a faultless ride in the 7.5km scratch race, surging past the Olympic champion, USA’s Jennifer Valente, in the final lap.

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In the tempo race, Archibald won 14 of the 26 sprints and gained a lap on the field, taking victory with 34 points, 10 points clear of second-placed Ganna Solovei of Ukraine. Archibald them composed herself after narrowly avoiding an early crash in the elimination race, moving further ahead of the chasing pack.

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Archibald sealed victory with a masterful tactical performance in the closing points race, winning four of the eight sprints to take gold, adding to her European championships success earlier in October. Belgium’s Lotte Kebecky finished second, with Italian rider Elisa Balsamo in third.

“I had a nice run in [the] Euros,” Archibald, whose first world omnium title came in 2017, said afterwards. “The races here have gone quite differently, and in some ways I’m happy I’ve succeeded in different ways. I was just so unbelievably nervous and it feels so much better now. This has been a fantastic year.”

Katie Archibald celebrates with her gold medal.
Katie Archibald celebrates with her gold medal. Photograph: Thibault Camus/AP

Archibald claimed a memorable Olympic gold medal this summer alongside Laura Kenny in the madison, and credited her preparation in Tokyo for her success. “Me and Laura worked really closely on our madison assault, and with that she was doing omnium prep and I was doing a lot of that with her. I’ve really benefitted essentially from her Olympic prep to run into this.”

Saturday offers another medal opportunity, with Archibald competing alongside roommate Neah Evans in the madison. Other medal events include the women’s 500m time trial, women’s individual pursuit and men’s omnium.

“I’m nervous, the same as I am for this, as it’s a big target,” Archibald added. “When you’re passionate about something it terrifies you, doesn’t it? Me and Neah probably won’t be able to help ourselves talking about it all night, but we’ll eventually switch off and get ready for the race.”