Welsh shine at home National Championships

Welsh and Scottish riders take six track golds apiece as Newport crowds salute their heroes

- Vern Pitt

Buoyed by the home crowd, Welsh riders and teams stepped up and had an extremely successful National Championships in Newport, capturing six national titles.

The engine room of that success was the women’s sprint team who won the team competition and saw Rhian Edmunds win both the 200m time trial and the individual sprint.

After the team event, rider Lowri Thomas said: “It’s absolutely insane – the crowd has been wicked all weekend. It’s really exciting to come here and win.”

The men’s team pursuit squad had probably the most dramatic win as the lead swung back and forth between them and opponents the East Midlands team throughout their final race. William Roberts said: “Our coach was walking the line and at the end I flapped a bit. But you can’t control what they are going to do, you just have to go as hard as you can.”

The Scottish contingent also did well, winning six national titles, powered by Jack Carlin’s three titles in the sprint events and Neah Evans’s two in the endurance races.