Finucane takes golden form into Olympics

GB ace claims clean sweep at latest Nations Cup round in Hong Kong, reports Tom Davidson

- Tom Davidson

Sprint world champion Emma Finucane scored a hat-trick of gold medals in her last race outing before this summer's Paris Olympics.

The 21-year-old took the top step of the podium in the individual sprint, keirin and team sprint - alongside Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant - at the UCI Nations Cup event in Hong Kong last weekend.

The victories build on what has been a hugely successful start to this Olympic year for the women's sprint squad, after Finucane won the sprint title at the European Championships, and the team sprint trio earned their first gold medal in over 11 years at the Adelaide Nations Cup round.

"It feels amazing," Finucane said of her Hong Kong heroics. "I'm really proud and this means everything to me, especially in an Olympic year. Coming into this racing, I didn't really know where I'd be at, but I put together some really good rides, and I'm really proud of how tactically I pulled it off."

The sprint events opened with the team sprint on Friday, where GB's trio of Finucane, Capewell and Marchant qualified fastest. They then clocked increasingly quicker times in each of the ensuing rounds, beating the world champions Germany in the final by over two tenths of a second. The win marked the first time GB had gained the upper hand in a final against the Germans, the team they lost out to at the World Championships last summer.