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Great Britain secured their first gold medals at Track World Championships in Chile as Josh Charlton claimed his first world title with victory in the individual pursuit and Josh Tarling stormed to victory the men’s points race.
Tarling delivered a points race masterclass to land gold before Charlton picked up his first rainbow jersey in the individual pursuit – Britain’s first gold in the men’s event since Bradley Wiggins in 2008. Joe Truman claimed bronze in the men’s kilo.
Tarling picked up maximum points in the third sprint of the points race before launching a bold solo move to gain a lap. From there the 21-year-old, who won a stage for Ineos Grenadiers at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, regularly collected points in the sprints, finishing second in the final dash to seal the title by eight points over the American Peter Moore.
Tarling said: “It felt pretty good. I think it was good that I got those early points in just so I knew the legs were there.”
Charlton, who took silver in the individual pursuit last year, produced a dominant display to qualify for the final 2.248 seconds faster than opponent Rasmus Pedersen of Denmark. Charlton established a two-second lead within the opening kilometre and eventually crossed the finish line more than three seconds ahead.
British riders have now won seven medals after three days of action in Santiago. Katie Archibald snared silver in the women’s elimination race, and GB claimed a women’s team pursuit bronze on Thursday, after winning silver medals in both the men’s and women’s team sprints on the opening day.
