Commonwealth Games: Neah Evans and John Archibald win cycling silvers for Scotland

Cycling
Hosts: Birmingham Dates: 28 July to 8 August
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV with extra streams on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport mobile app; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra; live text and clips online.

Scotland’s Neah Evans and John Archibald both won Commonwealth Games silver on a medal-filled day at the track cycling for the home nations.

Evans came second in the women’s points race while Archibald took silver in the men’s scratch race.

Wales won the bronze medals in both events, for Eluned King and William Roberts respectively.

Their team-mate James Ball, and his pilot Matt Rotherham, had earlier won Wales’ first gold medal of the Games.

They took a maiden Commonwealth Games title in the men’s tandem B sprint, beating Scotland’s Neil Fachie and his pilot Lewis Stewart in the final.

England’s Sophie Capewell later won 500m time trial bronze, while Scotland’s Jack Carlin was awarded the bronze medal in the men’s sprint.

One of the loudest cheers of the day was reserved for England’s Sophie Unwin and her sighted pilot Georgia Holt when they won silver in the women’s tandem B 1,000m time trial.

On Friday, they finished third in the tandem B sprint but were controversially not awarded the bronze medal.

Scotland’s Aileen McGlynn and her pilot Ellie Stone took bronze in the time trial.

Sunday’s penultimate day of racing at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London was marred by a horrifying crash in qualifying for the men’s scratch race, in which England’s Matt Walls and his bike were catapulted over the barrier and into the crowd.

Walls, the Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock and Canada’s Derek Gee were all taken to hospital.

‘Hard work’ for Evans

Evans won individual pursuit bronze earlier in the Games but went one better in the points race, though was still 19 points adrift of Australian winner Georgia Baker’s total of 55.

The 31-year-old, who won Olympic team pursuit silver with Team GB in Tokyo, was one of 10 riders to gain the all-important lap.

“There were so many moments where [I thought] this is not going how I want it, how anyone would want it,” she told BBC Sport.

“There was so much noise and encouragement from the crowd it kept me going.

“It was so attacking I hardly looked at the board, I just had to keep going and going. Hard work.”

England’s Laura Kenny, the 2014 points race champion, could only manage 13th.

Five-time Olympic champion Kenny, who won team pursuit bronze on Friday, is racing at her first major competition since having a miscarriage in November, followed by an ectopic pregnancy in January.

Archibald – the older brother of three-time Olympic medallist Katie – was one of three riders to form a breakaway in the men’s scratch race.

The 31-year-old, who won individual pursuit silver at the 2018 Commonwealths, finished behind New Zealand’s Corbin Strong with Roberts third, and was quick to pay tribute to a Scotland team-mate.

“The guys [in the break] made it happen, it takes three guys to make it work, you can’t do it solo,” Archibald told BBC Sport.

“I’ve got to thank Mark Stewart, who sacrificed his race to help me win, it’s always an honour to ride with Mark, four years ago it was on the other foot [in the points race].”

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