UCI Track Champions League: Katie Archibald wins endurance crown in style, Gavin Hoover snatches men's title

Updated 16/12/2021 at 09:36 GMT

Katie Archibald finished the series with 145 points (from a possible 160) as she completed her decimation in London on Saturday. Archibald looks to be the name to beat in women’s endurance racing after four stellar nights in the velodrome. Meanwhile, Gavin Hoover claimed an unlikely win in the men’s league after Sebastian Mora blew it in the penultimate race.

Archibald makes it four from four in elimination race

Katie Archibald (Great Britain) entered the history books as the first women’s endurance champion at the UCI Track Champions League.

The two-time Olympic champion arrived with an imposing 35-point advantage, with only 40 points still in play, and duly wrapped up the title with one race remaining.

With the pressure off, she put on a show in the event-concluding elimination race – beating the retiring Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) for a clean sweep of victories in the discipline across rounds in Mallorca, Lithuania and the London double-header.

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"This title means a big deal, more than that - just how professional it has been, just how much support we've had, and the amount of amazing feedback I've had," she said.

"This is year one, Discovery are locked in until 2029 - I just feel so confident that it's going to go from strength to strength. I'm proud to have been backing it from day one."

Gavin Hoover (USA) snatched the men’s title after overnight leader Sebastian Mora (Spain) was disqualified from the scratch race for causing a nasty crash.

Archibald, Lavreysen, Hinze, Hooper celebrate with jazzy trophies

Women’s Elimination - Archibald imperious again as Wild says farewell

Archibald made it four from four in the eliminator with another textbook ride, hovering on the blue line throughout and picking off rivals one by one.

When she was left in a head-to-head with Wild, she pushed the Dutch legend up towards the hoardings before cracking her on the final sprint lap.

“Literally everything she does, she wins. Phenomenal,” said Adam Blythe on Eurosport commentary.

Wild was tearful after signing off a brilliant career with second place overall, adding to a bulging palmarès that includes nine world titles on the track and an Olympic bronze.

Men’s Elimination - Leitao triumphs, Hoover seals title, Clancy's swansong

Leitao wins final elimination race

Iuri Leitao (Portugal) produced a flawless elimination race to vault himself into the top five of the overall standings.

Hoover finished fourth to take 13 points and secure the overall title.

“I don’t quite believe it. I was just so excited to be here and get the invitation after the World Championships and I thought, no matter what happens, it’s a success," said Hoover.

"To win, it’s just incredible and at a new series which I hope is the future of track. I definitely didn’t expect it.

I thought I could be competitive but I looked at the start list on the day and thought everyone could win so it definitely wasn’t expected.

Ed Clancy (Great Britain) signed off a glittering career that has yielded three Olympic team pursuit gold medals with a 14th place finish.

Women’s Scratch - Kajihara solos to victory

Kajihara claims solo victory in scratch race

Yumi Kajihara (Japan) survived a lone solo break to take a surprise win in the women’s scratch race as Archibald came home in second to seal the overall title.

Kajihara hit the front with seven laps remaining and was allowed to build a gap due to indecision behind.

Archibald, who had earlier launched an attack of her own to the delight of the home crowd, only needed to finish in the top 10 to guarantee top spot.

Men’s Scratch - Mora blows it as Eefting swoops in for victory

‘Ouch!’ – Big crash in men’s scratch race

Mora saw his hopes of winning the men’s endurance title disintegrate after he was disqualified for causing a big crash.

The Spaniard arrived at the final event in London with a five-point lead over Hoover and stalked his rival’s back wheel for the entirety of the 20-lap scratch race.

However when the riders hit the bell, Mora darted down the track and into trouble – inadvertently squeezing three riders on the inside and sending Kazushige Kuboki (Japan) and Alan Banaszek (Poland) to the velodrome floor.

Roy Eefting (Netherlands) took victory amid the carnage ahead of Corbin Strong (New Zealand) and William Tidball (Great Britain).

Although he finished the race, Mora was quickly bumped down the standings for causing the collision as Hoover took over at the top of the overall standings.