UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships: the planet’s finest para cyclists sign out in style

Final of four thrilling days in Brazil

The fourth and final day at the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships on Sunday 19 October saw a celebration of track competition on the Rio de Janeiro velodrome.

Australia, Great Britain and France each won two UCI world titles on the final day, with gold medals also going to Canada, France, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Australia tops the final medals table, signing out in style by winning the day’s last event, the C1-5 750m team sprint. Here’s how the last day went…

The ever-popular Daniel Abraham Gebru (NED) set about claiming his first gold medal of the event with an aggressive approach in the Men’s C5 10km scratch race, taking the lap on the field. Fellow Dutchman Martin Van De Pol was next across the line, taking the silver medal, and Carlos Andres Vargas Villanueva (COL), claimed the bronze.

France’s Alexandre Léauté – who had retained his C2 1km time trial title on Saturday – also took the win in the MC2 elimination race, with Hidde Buur (NED), again taking the silver medal, while Japan’s Shota Kawamoto claimed the bronze medal.

The Men’s C1 sprint finals saw a gold medal for Malaysia’s Mohamad Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin – with silver this for Spain’s Ricardo Ten Argiles, who had already taken three gold medals in the previous three days.

After two silver medals, Devon Briggs (NZL) made the Men’s C3 10km scratch race work to take the gold. Britain’s Finlay Graham led out the last three laps, but the tactics went to the best sprinter on the day – the Kiwi. The only other rider who was not lapped, Spain’s Eduardo Santas Asensio, took bronze.

In the WB sprint, UCI World Champions Elizabeth Jordan and her pilot Dannielle Khan (GBR) overcame the 2024 bronze medallists Jessica Gallagher and Mengler-Mohr (AUS) 2-0 in the race for the gold medal, earning themselves another world title. Great Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl beat Italy’s Marianna Agostini and Elena Bissolati for bronze.

The tandem races continued with the MB sprint where Great Britain’s James Ball and his pilot Steffan Lloyd took gold ahead of the Australians Kane Perris and Luke Zaccaria, winning the first two heats. Meanwhile, Belgium’s Milan Thomas and Mathias Lefeber took the bronze medal ahead of the Italians, Stefano Meroni and Francesco Ceci.

Other individual UCI world titles were awarded in the Women’s C2 elimination (Flurina Rigling - SUI), Women’s C1 elimination (Tahlia Clayton-Goodie – AUS), Women’s C3 sprint (Mel Pemble - CAN), Men’s C4 elimination (Gatien Le Rousseau – FRA), Women’sC5 10km scratch race (Claudia Cretti), and Women’s C4 scratch race (Tara Neyland – AUS).

In the day’s – and the UCI World Championships’ – final event, the C1-5 750m team sprint, the host nation Brazil just missed out on a medal, narrowly losing out to Spain in the race for the bronze.

The UCI world title came down to a battle between Paralympic Champions Great Britain – with Kadeena Cox (WC4), along with Finlay Graham (MC3) and Jody Cundy (MC4) versus the Australian trio of Erin Nermoyle (WC4), Michael Shippley (MC4) and Korey Boddington (MC3).

Despite the Britons taking an early slight advantage, it was the Aussies who powered back to take the win by 0.02 seconds.

Sport classes for para cycling track

C – Cycle: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary

B – Tandem: for visually impaired athletes with sighted pilot

Group C (1-5) is divided into different sport classes, with the lower the number indicating a higher level of impairment.