22-year old Ethan Vernon took home the gold medal in the Men’s Elimination Race in Glasgow on Monday night in an incident-filled race that included a heavy crash for the former Bedford School student.
Vernon recovered admirably to coast home to the gold medal, beating Canada’s Dylan Bibic and Italy’s Elia Viviani in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, cheered over the finish line by a raucous home crowd.
Speaking to Eurosport, Vernon was in disbelief to claim the gold after recovering from a crash with Dutch rider, Matthijs Buchli.
“I can’t believe it. When I crashed I didn’t really know the rules, so I just got back on and sprinted back on.
“I didn’t want to lose and I had good legs so it could not end it there.
“This week has been a bit depressing for us, the TP didn’t go so well and we put everything into that so it was a big setback. So to win in a bunch race that wasn’t the main target is quite special.”
Vernon’s triumph was Team GB’s 19th gold medal of the UCI Championships, and their 37th medal in all throughout the Championships which not only covers track cycling, but an assortment of medals on offer including in BMX riding, mountain biking and para-events.
The Championships close on Sunday (13th August) with Great Britain hoping to add to their medal tally across a number of contests.
Vernon himself has shown amazing versatility over the years, having started out on BMX bikes before changing to the longer road races, competing in the Tour of Britain in 2019 and placing third in the iconic Challenge Mallorca IV road race.
This gold medal in the indoor arena only adds to his successes, and still only 22-years old, there will be many more opportunities for the Bedfordian cyclist to stamp his authority on future events.
