Rewind just a little more than four years, and – as a prodigiously talented teenager – Elinor Barker was rapidly climbing the British Cycling ladder – junior world time trial success, and an unexpected, and hugely successful, promotion to the senior team pursuit team under her belt.
Now, with a new Olympic cycle underway, the Welsh star found herself as one of the senior figures in the British team at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships aged just 22 – and lived up to the billing by claiming points race gold and two silver medals in Hong Kong.
In a season of two halves, it was objective number one completed and Barker will now turn her focus back to the discipline in which she first came to public attention: the time trial.
Taking place in Bergen, Norway, Barker will look to add to the rainbow jersey she pulled on after her points race victory, with one from the world time trial – something only one British woman, Emma Pooley, has previously done at senior level.
New, fresh targets are the key to staying motivated in cycling – especially when you are programmed into four-year cycles – and Barker says this new challenge is exactly what was needed a year on from winning Olympic team pursuit gold at Rio 2016.
