'Pretty cool': Scotland's Katie Archibald lands another UCI madison gold medal

Archibald, 31, teamed up with newbie Leech to deliver and impressively dominant performance, taking Great Britan’s first world title of Saturday night in Santiago, Chile.

"The track's been running really fast this week and I've been so excited for this race," Archibald said. "The only thing I've been scared about is how much it was going to hurt. Everything else has been just a thrill and an opportunity so I was glad to welcome the pain and take home the jersey.

"There's nine years between us. Maddie was 13 years old when the first women's madison title was contended. She's grown up with this event as a reality which hasn't always been the case and it feels pretty cool to be next to somebody on that journey."

France's Victoire Berteau and Marion Borras finished second, while Italy's Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini took bronze after a crash ended the Netherlands' challenge.

Initial points were picked up in the first three sprints, while both riders navigated their way to safety around a number of crashes.

The race continued to move at a ferocious pace, with attacks being made consistently. While strung out across the track, the bunch was very much still as one, the Netherlands pipping GB to the sprint points, dropping Leech and Archibald three points behind.

By the halfway mark, Archibald was moving at pace and got into position to dominate the sprint and take five points, closing the gap to the Dutch to just two points. However, this was immediately followed by a heavy crash for the Dutch riders, forcing them out of the race.

How Archibald and Leech won gold

Their departure opened up the field for others and quickly Archibald, France, Italy, New Zealand and Japan had left the bunch, with Archibald quickly bypassing the quartet while Australia chased her down. As was a regular occurrence, the group eventually rejoined the bunch, as Leech picked up another three points to move back into the lead with two sprints to go.

With a quick hand sling, Archibald accelerated putting on pressure and stringing out the main players. Italy responded and fought it out to take the sprint win, pushing the closer into contention.

With the lead still theirs, and the laps in single figures, a missed change could have been the end but Archibald held on, marking the French from making and big moves. Two laps to go and Archibald dropped Leech in the perfect position to jump ahead with Belgium and France, pushing ahead to get a gap before being caught by the French on the line.

The final sprint however did not alter the result and Leech and Archibald took a well-earned world title.