'I tried my absolute hardest' - Matthew Richardson wins first British title after nationality swap

Matthew Richardson added a first British national crown to his seven Australian titles on Friday evening, cruising to individual sprint victory at the National Track Championships.

The 25-year-old, who switched nationality after winning three medals for Australia at last summer’s Olympics, won every race he competed in on his British Nationals debut. In the final, he faced the defending champion Pete Mitchell, a retired pro turned sprint coach, and beat him 2-0, celebrating by wagging his index finger across the line.

As he stood on the podium, gold medal around his neck, Richardson grinned back into the Manchester Velodrome, where his partner, Olympic champion Emma Finucane, applauded and cheered.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve really dreamt of this day, but I kind of have in a way,” Richardson told Cycling Weekly. “Swapping nationality meant that I would race British Nationals, and I’ve always watched it on YouTube on the replay.

“I’m keen for the photos after this, to get the perspective of what it looks like in the stripey jumper. I’m looking at it now, and it feels pretty sweet."

The event marked the Olympic silver medallist’s season opener, having recently returned from a two-month stint in Australia.

“It wasn’t the hardest day I’ve ever had on the bike,” he said, “but I held everyone to a high standard and I took everyone seriously. I didn’t underestimate anyone. I feel like I raced everyone with my respect. I tried my absolute hardest.”

One of the riders Richardson came up against on his way to the final was Ed Baker, a 21-year-old engineering student at the University of Bath, who he knocked out in the round of 16. “There was no way I was ever going to win it,” Baker smiled afterwards. “It was funny. At the beginning he slapped his chest trying to get himself ready, and I just started laughing. I was like, ‘Mate, you’re winning anyway. You can chill.’”

Richardson’s next chance at victory will come in the team sprint on Saturday, and again in the keirin on Sunday. Asked what his hopes are for the weekend, he made clear that he’s “definitely hunting for three [titles]”.

“I think if we win the team sprint, that’ll probably be my favourite,” he said. “I just love team sprinting. I love riding with a group of people that share a common goal. It’s great winning things, but it’s great winning things with people as well.”

Morris pulls off long-ranger

The return of Katie Archibald to the National Championships after a six-year hiatus was the hot topic ahead of the women’s scratch race, but the two-time Olympic champion proved powerless to an audacious long-range attack from her Team GB teammate, Anna Morris, the eventual winner.

In a field stacked with WorldTour talent, Morris, the individual pursuit world champion, attacked with 13 laps to go, and held off the bunch to the line. The move, she told Cycling Weekly afterwards, was “definitely not planned”.

“It just happened in the moment,” she said. “We ended up with a couple of us with a little bit of a gap, and I thought maybe this could work. I put in a lap, went full [gas], and when I went to pull up [the banking], saw I was on my own.

“When I saw 12 [laps] to go, I thought, ‘Oh this is like an old 3km pursuit’,” she continued. “I’m really happy with the result.”

Archibald placed second in the scratch race, ahead of promising 17-year-old Erin Boothman, the bronze medallist.

Morris’s victory comes a week after she won the individual pursuit title at the European Championships, a feat also achieved by Josh Charlton, who turned up ill to the National Championships on Friday, and almost broke the world record.

The 25-year-old caught his final opponent, Michael Gill, after just 3,000m in the 4,000m event, and went on to post a time of 4:00.918, less than two seconds off the world best.

“I’ve been in bed for the last five days,” he said afterwards with a croaky voice, “but I knew I had to come here and at least get the [European] jersey, get the stripes out. Winning last week was a dream come true.”

There was also a victory for the women’s team sprint squad of Rhian Edmunds, Lauren Bell and Lowri Thomas, who won the final race of the night. The event took place without the Olympic champions – Finucane, Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant – but proved hard fought, won with a time of 47.437 over the three laps.

Unwin and Holl break world record

In the para-cycling events, Sophie Unwin and her pilot Jenny Holl added a national title to the two Paralympic gold medals they won last year in Paris, dominating the tandem pursuit.

The pair won by 12 seconds in their heat, clocking 4:36.737 across the line, a world record over the new 4,000m distance.

“I don’t want to ever go back to losing,” Holl laughed afterwards. “[The world record] sets us a nice standard now. It sets a baseline from what we can build into the rest of the year.”

Archie Atkinson won the C4 kilometre time trial, beating Paralympic legend Jody Cundy, a 15-time world champion in the event, by almost nine seconds.

“I looked up in the last lap and I could see him," Atkinson said. "I was not expecting that. It was a bit of a surprise."

The 20-year-old, a Paralympic silver medallist, is also down to ride the individual pursuit and the team sprint over the coming days, and hopes to claim all three titles. “One down, two to go," he smiled.

There were also national titles for Elisabeth Simpson, Matthew Robertson, Jacob Smith and Alex Jones in the time trial, and tandem duo Steve Bate and Chris Latham in the individual pursuit.