Oakworth’s Tom Moses has won his first national senior cycling medal – beating an Olympic champion in the process.
The 18-year-old Team 100% ME rider partnered Jon Mould to the silver medal in the British Madison Championship at Manchester Velodrome.
Moses, who only joined the adult ranks last September, and his team-mate finished behind winners Luke Rowe and Peter Kennaugh but in front of Ed Clancy, who came fourth with Andy Tennant. Clancy won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the Team Pursuit.
Moses said: “Jon and myself knew we had a chance of a medal as we were one of four good teams but we also knew that it would be hard to win it.”
In a Madison race, teams can be of two or three riders but there must always be one of the team competing at any one time.
Riders usually swap with a team-mate via a hand-sling, with Moses explaining: “I don’t find it difficult changing partners for a Madison but I do find it hard to sling-shot my team-mate into the contest as I am a bit lighter than them.”
The aim is to complete more laps than the opposition, and Tennant and Clancy were the early leaders.
Moses – a former pupil at Oakbank School – said: “We made a slow start and were fifth after the first few laps but then we pulled back a lap on the field.”
Rowe (Team GB) and Kennaugh (Team Sky) put Tennant and Clancy a lap down in the second half of the race and kept their wheels at the front, triumphing in 58min 39.799sec to score 35 points.
Mould and Moses earned 19 points in second, with Tom Murray (Sigmasport- Specialized) and Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) picking up 16 in third. Rather like a marathon runner, Clancy ‘hit the wall’ after 120 laps.
The Keighley teenager warmed up for the 200-lap race with a six-day event in Rotterdam.
He explained: “I was partnering Josh Papworth in a UIV Cup event. There are six of them and Great Britain usually field a team in most of them.
“We were third overall until I crashed, which put us on the back foot, but we finished sixth overall.”
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