Aberdeen’s Neil Fachie successfully defended his 1km time trial title at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow by the narrowest of margins.
Fachie and pilot Matthew Rotherham topped the podium in a closely-fought contest to delight the home crowd at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
They were the quickest qualifiers in 59.741seconds – the only pair to go under a minute with James Ball and Steffan Lloyd finishing 0.627secs behind.
But Fachie, 39, and Rotherham were pushed all the way in the final by fellow Brits Ball and Lloyd.
The favourites were behind with half a lap to go but powered home to record a winning time of 1:00.287.
That meant they pipped Ball and Lloyd by a mere 0.042 seconds with Germany’s Thomas Ulbricht and Robert Forstemann taking home bronze.
It was Fachie’s 17th gold medal at a world championships and a major boost ahead of next year’s Paralympics in Paris.
He said: “This is my first big race (back at the velodrome) since 2014 and the Commie Games which was one of the absolute highlights of my career so just to be back here is amazing, and it’s a first world title with my son in the crowd watching so that was special too.
“The crowd was amazing, that’s the reason we won today. We’ve got no idea on the bike if we’re up or down (on time), all we could hear was the crowd roaring.
“I assumed we were going really well because they were cheering, I had no concept of us being behind but the crowd got behind us and we just nicked it.”
THEY'VE DONE IT AGAIN! 🌈🌈@neilfachie and @MattRotherham defend their rainbow jersey in the MB kilo TT! #GlasgowScotland2023 pic.twitter.com/LAXEdzDhge
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) August 4, 2023
Silver lining for Graham
Meanwhile, Strathpeffer’s Fin Graham won silver in the men’s C3 1km time trial.
Graham was the third quickest qualifier behind fellow Brit Jaco van Gass and New Zealander Devon Briggs.
Van Gass proved too strong in the final, crossing the line in 1:06.187 with Graham, who took silver in the same event in France a year ago, 0.263 seconds behind.
It's another medal for the Scots in the Velodrome, with a silver coming to @FinGparacyclist in the Men's C3 1km Time Trial.
Chapeau Fin, what an excellent ride!#GlasgowScotland2023#YourTimeToRide pic.twitter.com/YzvkAUEdCM
— Scottish Cycling (@ScottishCycling) August 4, 2023
Graham told BBC Sport: “I know in the kilo Jaco is the one to beat.
“For the last couple of years it has been him on the top spot and it was nice to push him.
“If you are getting near him you know you are going to go well against the rest of the world.”
Van Gass said: “Both Finlay and the New Zealander (Devon Briggs) went quicker than this morning so I had to back things up.
“It was not easy. It was amazing to have this event with the able-bodied guys because we rarely get crowds like these and they really pushed me on in the last lap.”