British riders broke records three times on day two of the UEC Track European Championships in Konya, Turkey on Monday, with sprinter Emma Finucane smashing the flying 200-metre mark set by China’s Yuan Liying and the women’s team pursuit squad regaining the 4,000 metre record after losing it to Germany at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Finucane shaved 0.223 seconds off the flying 200m mark, setting a time of 9.759 seconds on the same track where Liying became the first woman to break 10 seconds when she set her record of 9.976 seconds at the Nations Cup in 2025.
The 23-year-old came into the championships with the mark as a major goal. “I set the stakes high, I let everyone know that I wanted to break this world record and I think every girl coming into this competition wanted to take the opportunity, too,” Finucane said.
“I was really nervous, I was really nervous to execute the perfect ride and I think I pretty much went out there and did everything I possibly could technically and to come away, to look at the board and see 9.759 and break the world record is unbelievable, I just can’t believe it.”
She went on to breeze through the first two rounds and the quarterfinals of match sprints, and will compete for the medals on Tuesday.
The track proved to be fast during the team pursuit events, too. The Danish men’s team knocked nearly one second off the 4,000-metre team pursuit record set by Australia at the Paris Olympics, clocking 3:39.977 while competing against Italy in the first round, surpassing the time of 3:40.73 set in 2024. The Danes – Lasse Norman Leth, Frederik Rodenberg, Rasmus Pedersen and Tobias Hansen – went on to defeat Switzerland to claim the European title in the finals.
Great Britain beat France to win the bronze medal.
The British women, Katie Archibald, Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Millie Couzens and Kate Richardson set the women’s team pursuit record twice during Monday’s competition. In the first round, they shaved 0.608 seconds off the record set by Germany at the Tokyo Olympics, then lopped another 0.174 seconds off their time en route to the gold medal in the finals.
In other races, Joseph Truman claimed the men’s kilometre time trial and Lotte Kopecky added a fourth European title in the Elimination Race to her palmares, beating Frenchwoman Victoire Berteau and Germany’s Lea Lin Teutenberg.
“I’ve got it down pretty well, I’d say,” Kopecky said, according to Sporza. “I’m always shivering before the start from the healthy stress and tension, because it’s a race with quite a few risks. But I really enjoy doing it.
“In the beginning, it was a bit of a struggle, but then I moved forward to be safe. That went pretty well. That’s how it feels to ride an Elimination.”
The Elimination Race is a mass-start event where the last rider across the line every other lap is removed from the race. The last three riders then sprint against each other for the victory.
“When you’re down to five and you feel your legs, you know a medal is possible. I still felt pretty good and made the right decisions,” Kopecky said. “If it hurts me, it usually hurts the rest, too. Then I have to rely on my own strength and squeeze out a final sprint.”
Kopecky will also compete in the points race and individual pursuit on Wednesday, and the Madison with Shari Bossuyt on Thursday.
Bossuyt missed out on competing at the Paris Olympics with Kopecky after being suspended for doping. She returned to competition last June and races with AG Insurance-Soudal on the road.
“Tomorrow is recovery, and Wednesday will be seriously tough. I have confidence. I felt really good in training. I’m really looking forward to Madison with Shari. If we both have a good day, I think we can go very far.”
