Laura Trott won the omnium at he UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong today, with Great Britain claiming victory of the event and of the 2015/2016 competition.
The omnium event is made up of six disciplines – the scratch race, individual pursuit, elimination race, time trial, flying lap and points race – Trott finished with a total of 188 points, a good way up on American rival Sarah Hammer who had a total of 170.
The 23-year-old’s key goals for the year are the UCI Track World Championships, held in London in March, and of course the Rio Olympic games, and the performance shows she’s in a very good position to defend her Olympic titles.
Great Britain also scored a gold in the men’s team sprint – with Jason Kenny, Philip Hindes and Callum Skinner, as well as silver in the women’s team sprint ridden by Katy Marchant and Jess Varnish. In the team pursiut, Elinor Barker, Ciara Horne, Laura Trott and Joanna Roswell-Shand rode to second, narrowly beaten by Canada.
The men’s team pursuit squad rose to the occasion and grabbed a bronze medal, whist Jason Kenny came third overall in the sprint event and Emily Nelson was also third in the Points Race.
The results are encouraging ahead of Rio – Great Britain Cycling Team head coach Iain Dyer told British Cycling: “[We’re] Really, really encouraged by this weekend’s team performance across the board. We’ve had established riders do what they do best and we’ve had young riders step up and be counted, which is great too. There’s some good momentum in the team. Belief is there and really looking forward to the worlds in London in just over a month’s time.”