Neil Fachie and Pete Mitchell became the first pairing in history to ride under one minute as they powered to the world title in 59.460sec, shattering the previous record held by Fachie and Barney Storey which was set at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Australians Jason Niblett and Kieran Modra came in second while bronze went to compatriots Paul Kennedy and Thomas Clarke.

"I always said when I started cycling it was one of the golden barriers that I wanted to be the first tandem to go under a minute," said 30-year-old Fachie.

"To do it here is very special.

"It's going to be pretty hard to break that mark now.

"It's something we can treasure forever."

The women's kilo time-trial was claimed by Sophie Thornhill and pilot Rachel James, who knocked nearly three seconds off the previous world best when they crossed the line in
1min 05.912sec at the Bicentenary Velodrome in Aguascalientes.

The British duo finished well clear of second placed Brandie O'Connor and Breanna Hargrave of Australia, with Kiwis Kylie Young and Phillipa Gray coming third.

"To think this is our first race at a major championships, and we won it, I still can't believe it," said Thornhill afterwards.

"We knew the record was on the cards but to break it by almost three seconds is amazing."

Two-time Paralympic champion Michael Gallagher claimed his ninth world title in Aguascalientes today ©Getty Images



Jon-Allan Butterworth claimed a third medal on the day for Britain after securing bronze in the men's C5 four kilometre individual pursuit.

The 28-year-old, a three-time silver medallist at the London 2012, defeated Italian Andrea Tarlao in the bronze medal ride-off.

In the final, double Paralympic champion Michael Gallagher of Australia won his ninth world crown with a time of 4:23.057 to smash his own world record by almost six seconds, defeating Ukraine's Yehor Dementyev.

China's Paralympic champion Gui Hua Lang added World Championship gold to his collection, as both he and Ireland's Colin Lynch went under world record time in the final of the C2 3km pursuit, with Lang clocking a new world best time of 3:40.367.

Russia's Arslan Gilmutdinov finished with bronze, while team-mate Alexey Obydennow took gold in the C3 2km event.

The 38-year-old beat Paralympic champion Joseph Berenyi of the United States in the final round to take Russia's first gold of the competition, while Australian David Nicholas took bronze.

Another Paralympic champion, Carol-Eduard Novak of Romania, also missed out on securing a world title as he had to settle for silver in the C4 4km pursuit.

The man he beat in that London 2012 final, Czech Jiri Jezek, once again missed out on the top spot of the podium in Aguascalientes as he could not overcome Slovakian Jozef Metelka.

The C1 3km pursuit was won by London 2012 bronze medallist Rodrigo Fernando Lopez of Argentina, with Spain's Juan Jose Mendez taking the silver while Canada's Jaye Milley finished with the bronze.

The 2014 Para-cycling Track World Championships are due to continue through until Sunday (April 13).

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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