Welsh Olympic hopeful Emma Finucane will be aiming to put down an early marker ahead of the Paris Games at the European Track Championships in the Netherlands next week. The 21-year-old world champion from Carmarthen sprung a surprise by winning gold at last year’s world championships in Glasgow and leads a strong Great Britain squad which also includes Olympic bronze medallist Jack Carlin.

Emma Finucane is trying to ignore her new status as sprint world champion as she sets her sights on achieving Olympic glory in Paris next summer. The 20-year-old Welsh star shocked herself when she took the women’s individual sprint title in Glasgow in August, beating Germany’s favoured Lea Friedrich in the final.

It’s 15 years to the day since Nicole Cooke won Great Britain’s first medal of the Beijing Olympics when she took gold in the women’s road race in 2008. The Welsh rider overcame the competition and heavy rain to cross the line first at the end of the 126km route from the city centre to a section of the Great Wall of China.

Emma Finucane admitted she was in disbelief after capping a breakout year by becoming Britain’s first women’s sprint world champion in a decade at the UCI Cycling World Championships. The 20-year-old Welsh rider got the better of Germany’s Lea Friedrich to win the final 2-0, the first time Britain had picked up a medal of any colour in this event since fellow Welsh star Becky James took the world title in 2013.

Elynor Backstedt admitted she felt “gutted” after she missed out on a medal by seconds at the UCI Cycling World Championships. The Welsh star finished fourth in Glasgow in the team time trial mixed relay as Great Britain were just edged out of a place on the podium.

Elinor Barker believes she is back on track for Olympic glory next year after becoming a double world champion in Glasgow. The Welsh cycling star and Great Britain teammate Neah Evans were crowned world madison champions at the UCI Cycling World Championships on Monday night.

Emma Finucane narrowly missed out on a gold medal but took silver at her first world championships in Glasgow. The rising Welsh star was part of a Great Britain team that recorded a best major women’s team sprint result in 12 years with silver at the UCI Cycling World Championships.

Elinor Barker has won her first cycling title since giving birth to her son Nico less than a year ago. The Welsh track star partnered Katie Archibald to victory in the Madison at the European Championships in Switzerland. It was Archibald’s third title of the week and 20th of her career, while Barker’s fellow Welsh rider Emma Finucane also claimed silver in the women’s keirin as Great Britain ended the week with four gold, six silver and two bronze medals.

Josh Tarling led the way as Welsh riders won an incredible 17 medals at the British National Track Championships in Newport. Teenager Tarling followed up his individual title in the 120 lap points race, by also winning the men’s team pursuit, alongside Joe Holt, Harvey McNaughton and William Roberts. It proved to be a hugely memorable championships for home riders at the Geraint Thomas Velodrome as they secured five titles in all and 17 medals to lay down a marker ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later this year.

Welsh cyclists will make up 50 per cent of the Great Britain team at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Germany later this month. The six-strong Welsh contingent in the GB squad follows some outstanding performance at the recent European Junior and  Under-23 Championships in Ghent.

There was a Welsh one-two in the National Women’s Road Race Championships as Jess Roberts just edged out her Gold Coast Team Wales colleague Dani Rowe in a thrilling finish in Stamfordham, Northumberland. Roberts attacked late on to finish just 1.5 seconds ahead of Olympic track gold medallist Rowe to follow in the illustrious footsteps of Nicole Cooke (1999 and 2001-09) and Megan Hughes (1998) as Welsh winners of the race.