Great Britain began the 2023 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in strong fashion with a silver medal in the team relay event.
The team of Zoe Backstedt, Joseph Blackmore, Cat Ferguson, Alfie Amey, Anna Kay and Thomas Mein finished with a time of 42:36 in Hoogerheide, as the Netherlands stormed to the world title in front of the home crowd.
GB ended up 31 seconds behind the Dutch, while Belgium (42:38) were only two seconds further back in the bronze medal position, as the Brits overcame a slow start to clinch the runners-up spot.
Team Relay Podium 🏆
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) February 3, 2023
🥇 Netherlands
🥈 Great Britain
🥉 Belgium #Hoogerheide2023 pic.twitter.com/5K5RnSJ1qy
GB found themselves down in 10th after Backstedt's seven-minute and seven-second lap, but Blackmore and Amey both posted sub-seven runs to surge up the rankings.
Mein's time of 06:39 was just one second behind the Netherlands' final racer Ryan Kamp (06:38), but the hosts had already built up a healthy advantage after leading the race from the get-go.
Elsewhere, France just missed out on a medal as they placed fourth with a total time of 42:42, while Italy faded away towards the end and placed fifth with 42:57 on the board.
Ben Knapton
