New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete Nicole Duncan has shattered her expectations of the 2023 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Cali, Columbia, winning the first world championship on offer in the women’s scratch race.

The 17-year-old from the Central Coast edged out Italy’s Anita Baima on the line for the rainbow jersey in a chaotic final four laps that had two separate crashes at Velódromo Alcides Nieto Patiño.

Great Britain’s Carys Lloyd finished ahead of the bunch and initially looked to have won the world championship, only to be deemed out of the race by the commissaires after coming down in the first crash with four laps to go and rejoining the bunch as the bell lap rang after taking too many laps out.

Duncan said she couldn’t believe she had won.

“It means the world; I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little girl,” Duncan said. “I couldn’t be happier. To get a medal is one thing, to get gold is a completely different thing.

“I came here with the hope of getting a top-10 and to get a gold medal is absolutely unbelievable. To be here is an absolute dream. I have the best team around me.”

Duncan is now ARA Australian Cycling Team’s third junior world champion in a fortnight after Felicity Wilson-Haffenden and Oscar Chamberlain’s time trial wins at the Glasgow 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

It also means Australian UCI Continental squad Team BridgeLane has two junior world champions across road and track in their first season with a dedicated junior women’s program.

Earlier on Day 1, ARA Australian Cycling Team’s junior women’s team pursuit squad for qualifying, comprised of Wilson-Haffenden, Sally Carter, Lauren Bates and NSWIS athlete Keira Will, secured third spot in a time of 4:30.635.

The squad will race France in Round 1 tomorrow for a place in the gold medal final.

Story by Josh Davies, AusCycling

Photo: Campeonato Mundial Junior de Ciclismo de Pista Cali 2023

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