Megan Barker proved anything elder sister Elinor can do, she is not far behind as she stormed to a silver medal in the Scratch race at the opening Tissot UCI Track World Cup event in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, in France – her first senior success.
Having failed to qualify for the final rides in the team pursuit, 21-year-old Barker saved her best till last in the 40 lap race which was won by experienced Aussie rider Ashlee Ankudinoff.
It was a small slice of revenge for Ankudinoff, who came home in 17th place in the same event at the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast earlier in the year, five places behind Barker.
With Neah Evans also getting on the podium in the Omnium it took Britain’s medal tally at the opening World Cup event to six. This weekend it will be up to a new group of British riders to add to that haul in Milton, Canada.
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Leaving Paris with a silver medal and a Moose pretty chuffed with my first senior medal in today’s World Cup scratch race ☺️ @swpixtweets pic.twitter.com/nFmp80v9Ue
— Meg Barker (@MegBarker97) October 21, 2018
Included in that group will be Megan’s sister, Elinor, who has already struck gold at the Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth levels.
Megan’s silver has certainly thrown down the gauntlet as the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 begins in earnest.
Megan’s performance in France over the weekend shows she is starting to feel at home on the senior stage after excelling at youth level. She has also been the model of consistency on the domestic stage in recent seasons.