Fin Graham made it a fourth consecutive C3 road race world title on a fantastic final day for the Great Britain Cycling Team at the UCI Para-Cycling World Championships in Ronse, Belgium. Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl (WB), Archie Atkinson (C4) and Morgan Newberry (C5) all took home bronze medals to round off a successful event for the British team, who will bring home one gold, two silver and six bronze medals overall.

In one of the final races of the day, Fin Graham defended his men’s C3 road race title with aplomb after a sensational attack inside the closing kilometre to take it to the rest of the field and show he remains the best in the world.

The C3 race was a tight affair with a large bunch of riders sticking with each other throughout, with lots of tactical moves made which built up the tension ahead of a thrilling conclusion. With eight riders still in contention with a kilometre to go, Graham made his move, pulling away from his opponents to open up a small margin which would continue to grow. France’s Thomas Peyroton Dartet tried his best to reel him back in, but it was to no avail as Graham sealed the gold medal. He said afterwards:

“To win a first world title back in 2022 was a dream come true, so to now be retaining that for the fourth year in a row, is something that I could never have imagined. To do it here in Belgium, with that crowd, was phenomenal. I was made to work for it; it was such a hard race."

“It has finished off a really good week for our squad. Retaining this title, as Paralympic champion, is very special. To race in the rainbow stripes for another year is still a pinch me moment. I’ll never get tired of looking down and seeing the rainbow bands.”

Elsewhere in the race, debutant Jacob Smith was also part of the last burn up for the line, and would take fifth position after a battling display, while Ben Watson was next home for the GBCT contingent in ninth position.

After securing silver in the time-trial on Friday, Sophie Unwin (piloted by Jenny Holl) put in a ride of grit and determination to seal the bronze medal in the women’s tandem B road race.

The pair were made to work hard for their place on the podium after an eventful contest. They went hard to stay with the group during early attacks, tracking the eventual gold-medal-winning Irish pair of Katie-George Dunlevy and Linda Kelly on the opening two laps, but they couldn't match the pace at the front as Ireland and Poland moved away. Despite a close battle with an Italian pair over the last laps, Unwin and Holl would pull away to claim bronze and leave Ronse with a double medal haul.

Lizzi Jordan (piloted by Danni Khan) won the tight run in with tandems from Sweden and Poland to grab sixth place, while Amelia Robertson (piloted by Corrine Hall) came tenth overall in her world championships debut with the veteran pilot.

Morgan Newberry contended with the worsening rainy conditions of the morning session to secure a brilliant bronze in the women’s C5 road race, coming through a lonely last lap to ensure she would take more silverware back home from the championships in Belgium, following her TT silver on Friday.

With multiple women’s classification races ongoing simultaneously, there different groups forming throughout with Newberry, last year’s silver medallist, tracking her rivals in the opening laps. As the race unfolded though, Australia’s Alana Forster stole a march on her C5 opponents, with Poland’s Anna Harkowska going with her as the nearest challenger. The gap back to Newberry widened as the laps wound down but regardless, she eventually settled for a well-deserved bronze.

Her teammate and debutant Rebecca Newark was another five minutes back in sixth place overall.

More medal success came from Archie Atkinson as he secured men’s C4 road race bronze after a superb ride on Sunday afternoon.

From the very early stages of the contest, a clear top three of Atkinson, and France’s Kevin Le Cunff and Mattis Lebeau moved away from the rest of the field, such was the trio's quality, and they worked together to consolidate their advantage. The tension ramped up as the laps counted down as all three were side by side, exchanging positions at the front.

However, a move from Lebeau made around and hour and 20 minutes into racing, up a hilly section of the course, proved decisive with Le Cunff also seizing the initiative to move away from the Briton with just over two laps remaining. And this order remained for the rest of the race, with Atkinson upgrading from fourth place last year to reach the podium with Lebeau taking gold and Le Cunff with bronze.

In a tough contest for Chris McDonald (piloted by Adam Duggleby) in the men’s tandem B road race, they would ultimately finish in 10th position, over eight minutes behind Andreoli and Di Felice of Italy who took the gold. The British riders were embroiled in a battle for eighth in the closing stages, just nipped to the line by teams for Poland and Colombia.

In the men’s C2 road race, Matt Robertson pushed hard throughout the contest to make his way into the top ten with a ninth-place finish overall in a race won by another Frenchman, Alexandre Leaute.

Photo credit: SWPix.