Lichfield cycling star claims second silver at European Track Championships
Lichfield cycling star Sophie Capewell continued her impressive return to action by winning sprint silver at the European Track Championships.
The 27-year-old finished second to her GB team-mate and fellow Olympic team sprint gold medallist Emma Finucane in Konya, Turkey.
It was Capewell’s second silver of the championships, after she was also part of the team sprint trio which narrowly missed out on gold to Germany earlier in the week.
Finucane, who set a new world record for the fastest lap in qualifying, ultimately proved too strong in the individual final.
But this was still an encouraging result for Capewell, in what is her first major championship since a brilliant 2024 in which she won both Olympic and world gold in the team sprint.
Capewell, who finished fifth in the individual sprint at Paris 2024, beat Italy’s Mirian Vece 2-0 in their quarter-final, before setting up a showdown with Finucane by brushing aside Germany’s Lea Sophie Friedrich.
In the final, Finucane edged the first race by holding Capewell off as she tried to overtake round the final bend.
Needing to win the next race to set-up a decider, Capewell then went early in a bid to surprise her opponent but Finucane was able to make it around the outside and claim victory.
