GB’s Barker & Evans win silver before dramatic Carlin bronze

Elinor Barker and Neah Evans won a hard-earned silver in an enthralling madison before Jack Carlin took a dramatic sprint bronze as Britain’s cyclists continued to deliver medals at the Paris Olympics.

A huge push on the final sprint of the madison gave world champions Barker and Evans a total of 31 points – six behind gold medallists Italy.

Carlin, meanwhile, missed out on the chance to race for gold when he lost to eventual champion Harrie Lavreysen in the semi-finals, but beat his Dutch compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland over three races for bronze.

It was not without controversy, though, with the race restarted after Carlin – who broke his ankle in April – mistakenly caused a collision that could have ruined his chances.

The two medals take Team GB’s tally to seven at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, with two more days of racing to come.

Evans’ silver in the madison also means every member of the British track squad has won a medal in Paris.

Britain were defending women’s madison champions coming into the 120-lap race, with Katie Archibald and Dame Laura Kenny having won the inaugural Olympic race three years ago in Tokyo.

GB were the only team on the podium to not take a 20-point lap, with bronze medallists the Netherlands the first to make the catch.

With sprints taking place every 10 laps, Barker and Evans – who are the world champions – made the perfect start by taking the opening five points on offer.

They remained in the medal positions throughout, though that looked in danger when first the Dutch then Italy lapped the rest of the field, with the American duo often in touching distance of the British pair.

Barker and Evans took the most points of any nation on the sprints, with Barker – who has a team pursuit Olympic medal of every colour after winning bronze earlier in the week – launching a fierce attack to wrap up the double points on the last 250m.

“We really, really wanted gold,” Barker – a four-time Olympic medallist at 29 – told BBC Sport.

“We came in as world champions which obviously meant we put that pressure on ourselves. We had a target on our back potentially.

“We said it wouldn’t change the way that we raced but it was hard not to feel like we needed to take responsibility for things at times and perhaps that’s what we’ll pick up in our analysis but also I think – an Olympic medal.

“There are plenty of world champions this week that haven’t medalled. I think every single medal is a huge achievement.”

Their silver medal marks a redemption for the pair, who crashed out of the madison at January’s European Championships.

Evans later revealed she had been diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus in April, a bacterial infection that “properly floored” her and left her struggling to climb stairs.

“To come away with a medal is huge because there’s nothing guaranteed,” said the 34-year-old.

“It’s unorganised chaos. You’re like if only…but it’s an Olympic silver medal.”

Like Barker, 27-year-old Carlin is now a four-time Olympic medallist but his long wait for gold – at this or any major competition – continues.

In an era of Dutch sprinting dominance, he was always facing the biggest of asks to stand on the higher steps of the podium, particularly after his ankle break at the Track Nations Cup in Canada earlier this year.

In the semi-finals, the sensational Lavreysen – a five-time world champion and now double Olympic gold medallist in the individual sprint – proved too much, but against Hoogland he stood more of a chance.

They split the opening two heats of the best-of-three match sprint, forcing a decider in front of the huge numbers of British and Dutch fans inside the velodrome.

That was when the drama started.

Carlin – who was already carrying a warning from his quarter-final against Japan’s Kaiya Ota on Thursday – suddenly veered up the track, causing a collision with Hoogland.

The race was stopped, Carlin instantaneously raising his hand in apology before holding his head in disbelief, fearing he would be disqualified.

“We’re using two different tyres, the front is a bit more slippy, and as I turned, I turned too aggressively for it, slipped a little bit and I leaned into him,” Carlin told BBC Sport.

“I’d left it in the hands of the [commissaires].”

He took his time to regain his composure before the restart, and after winning his second successive bronze in the event, having won the same colour in Tokyo, he cast an emotional figure on the podium.

“It’s been a tough couple of months after what happened in Canada, and I think the last three months have been probably the hardest of my career, trying to get back to health,” Carlin said.

“Without British Cycling’s support, I don’t think I’d have been on the line today, or at this Games. They mended me back together and got me to a place where I’m medal competitive, and I can only be thankful for that.”

On his final race against Hoogland, he added: “It was the fastest sprint I’ve done in the whole competitions, I gave it absolutely everything and I’m so proud of myself.”

Elsewhere in Friday’s action, Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell – who were crowned team sprint Olympic champions alongside Katy Marchant on Monday – progressed to the 1/8 finals in the individual sprint.

That event continues on Saturday, when Carlin is back on the track in the men’s keirin alongside team-mate Hamish Turnbull, while Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood contest the men’s madison.