Katy Marchant returns to help Great Britain to silver at European Championships in Switzerland | Cycling News

Katy Marchant took time away from cycling after giving birth and returned in fine fashion as Great Britain just missed out on gold in the European Championship final against Germany in Switzerland.

Great Britain came second in the women’s Team Sprint

Katy Marchant returned to international competition for the first time since giving birth, as she helped Great Britain to women’s Team Sprint silver at the European Championships.

The Olympic bronze medallist said on the eve of the event in Grenchen, Switzerland, that she has launched “career 2.0” after becoming a mother.

Her return was marked in spectacular fashion as Great Britain narrowly finished behind Germany in the team sprint final.

Marchant, Lauren Bell and Sophie Capewell qualified as the third-fastest team before Emma Finucane replaced Marchant to see off Belgium in the semi-final.

The 30-year-old returned for the final but Great Britain were beaten to first place by a strong German team.

The men’s sprint team had to settle for silver after Ali Fielding, Jack Carlin and Joe Truman reached the final, where they were beaten by a dominant Netherlands team.

Marchant was included in the 21-strong Great Britain squad alongside Rio gold medallist Elinor Barker, who also returned after giving birth to her son Nico.

Rio bronze medallist Marchant, 30, who gave birth to son Arthur in June last year, was back in the sprint squad alongside Finucane – fresh from a sweep of all four national sprint titles last weekend – Bell and Capewell.

The Great Britain squad also includes emerging road star Fred Wright, 23, who is heading back to the track for his first major competition in the velodrome since 2019.

Barker been named in a women’s endurance squad that also includes Katie Archibald, Josie Knight, Neah Evans, Anna Morris and Ella Barnwell.