Barker claims Britain’s first gold at Track Cycling Championships in Berlin

Elinor Barker was crowned world points race champion as she collected Great Britain’s first gold medal of the Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin.

Barker, 25, was the only rider to gain a lap, giving her a winning total of 50 points.

Jennifer Valente of the United States won silver and Norway’s Anita Yvonne Stenberg took bronze.

“It felt surreal after gaining the lap. There were still 15 laps to go and I was completely gone,” said Barker.

Victory in the points race – a non-Olympic discipline – gave Barker her second medal in the German capital after team pursuit silver on Thursday.

“I was relying on fact that everyone else was really close together and controlling each other,” Barker added.

“I had a conversation with my coach before over whether we would we be happy to say I had a good ride. I said, ‘No I’d rather take some big risks’. That could either have put me in 15th or put me in a position to win.”

Barker’s success came three years after she won the title in Hong Kong, while she was GB’s only gold medallist at the 2019 World Championships in Poland, where she won scratch race gold.