Strathpeffer cyclist Fin Graham surged to gold in the men’s C3 individual pursuit at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.
Graham successfully defended the title he won in France a year ago, defeating fellow Brit Jaco van Gass by over five seconds in a winning time of 3:19.946.
Van Gass had pipped Graham for gold in the men’s C3 scratch race on Saturday night and the C3 1km time trial on Friday.
But there was no let up from Graham as he continued to build on a strong start in the individual pursuit to ensure it was third time lucky at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
New Zealand’s Devon Briggs pipped Matthijs Drenth for bronze in a much closer contest.
In the scratch race, Graham was close to topping the podium only to be passed on the line by his teammate.
The 23-year-old thanked the crowd for their support and giving him the added motivation to dig deep.
Boom!
He's only gone and done it!@FinGparacyclist has defended his Men's C3 Individual Pursuit title to become World Champion once again!#YourTimeToRide#GlasgowScotland2023 pic.twitter.com/5uWfm6GcZX
— Scottish Cycling (@ScottishCycling) August 6, 2023
He said: “I wanted to make sure that no-one got away early and when I saw that the Colombian nearly gained a lap, I felt we needed to make a move.
“I would rather work to get gold than sit in to get silver so I went and noticed Jaco came with me and we managed to work together to gain a lap.
“Halfway round, my legs were killing me and I was regretting my decision and thinking it was a stupid idea but the crowd got us round.
“It was constant noise, which helped massively.
“I wasn’t quite able to nip Jaco on the line but it was a super strong ride from both us.”
Meanwhile, Aberdeen’s Neil Fachie and Matt Rotherham progressed to the semi-finals of the men’s B sprint with the medals set to be decided on Monday.
