“Twitchy” Elinor Barker Switches Into Gold Mode For Wales

Elinor Barker upgraded from silver in Glasgow four years ago to win Wales’ second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

The 23-year-old Cardiff cyclist confirmed her status as the Queen of the Track as she added the Commonwealth Games 25km Points Race title to the world crown she took last year. It also means she has completed a clean-sweep of gold medals at major championships.

Having helped the British Team Pursuit team break the world record in taking the gold medal in Rio in 2016, last year she became a senior World champion in the Points Race in Hong Kong and also took Madison gold at the European Championships in Berlin.

“I was getting twitchy in the hotel watching the other competitors getting medal and that really spurred me on. It is really special to be able to stand on the podium and hear the Welsh national anthem being played for the first time,” said Barker.

“This is what I was after – it is my best event and I wanted to try to win it and it paid off.”

Barker stunned the rest of the field, that included fellow Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald, by putting in a huge effort to take a lap out of the field and secure 20 points. That put her in the driving seat and the performance of team mates Dani Rowe and Jess Roberts to nursing her back into the field after that effort made al the difference.

But it wasn’t just that one burst that won her the gold. On the final lap she came from way down in the pack to overtake two breakaway riders, hold off Archibald and take the 10 points for winning the last spring. That enabled her to take the title by a massive 20 points from the Scottish duo of Archibald (20) and Neah Evans (17).