Local cyclist Nicole Duncan has shattered her own expectations at the 2023 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Colombia, winning the first world championship on offer in the women’s scratch race.
The 17-year-old from the Central Coast edged out Italy’s Anita Baima on the line for the rainbow jersey in a chaotic final four laps which saw two separate crashes at Velódromo Alcides Nieto Patiño.
Great Britain’s Carys Lloyd finished ahead of the bunch and initially looked to have won the world championship, only to be deemed out of the race by the commissaries after coming down in the first crash with four laps to go and rejoining the bunch as the bell lap rang after taking too many laps out.
Duncan said she couldn’t believe she had won.
“It means the world; I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little girl,” she said.
“I couldn’t be happier.
“To get a medal is one thing; to get gold is a completely different thing.
“I came here with the hope of getting a top-10 and to get a gold medal is absolutely unbelievable.
“To be here is an absolute dream.
“I have the best team around me.”
Later in the world championships, Duncan won a silver medal in the Madison and a bronze in the Team Pursuit events, giving the young Coastie a swag of medals to carry home.
Source:
Josh Davies, AusCycling