Great Britain has topped the medal table at the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles.
The nation’s elite para-cyclists won 17 medals, eight golds, seven silvers, and two bronzes, after four days of competition.
Gold medals in seven different events, including two each for Sarah Storey and the tandem pairing of Anthony Kappes and Craig McLean, auger well for London 2012, but lead coach, Chris Furber, warned against complacency.
“We knew the standard here was going to be high but it’s been tougher than we expected. It’s been a bit of a wake-up call for some riders and we’ve got to work really hard between now and the Games to stay in front where we are in front and get in front where we’re not,” he said.
Sarah Storey continued her imperious run on day three by winning the C5 3km Pursuit, adding a second gold medal to the one she collected on the opening day with victory in the C5 500m time trial.
Darren Kenny took gold in the 1km time trial, while Jody Cundy won the C4 Kilo by three seconds. “It will be good to go to London as world champion,” said Cundy.
Jon-Allan Butterworth regained his world record to win gold in the C5 Kilo, beating a new record set in the qualifying rounds by Xingyang Liu of China.
“When I was going up there (track) I was thinking, right, I have to pull something special out of the bag, but as soon as I was on the start line I knew what I had to do. In the ride I was fighting every single yard,” he said.
Butterworth and Cundy will go head to head at the London Paralympic Games this summer when the C4 and C5 kilo classes are combined.
Cundy said: “It will be really exciting. Jon has just come away with gold and we’ll be racing together – two world champions head to head in the same event. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
