Olympic cycling stars visit Hyde

Two thirds of the cycling trio that led Team GB to gold this summer made the trip to the Manchester Bike Kitchen in Hyde to show off their medals.

Manchester based cyclists Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell, along with their teammate Emma Finucane, who wasn’t present on the day, led Team GB to their first ever gold medal in the women’s team sprint in Paris earlier this month. 

The trio clinched the victory with a time of 45.186 seconds, defeating New Zealand in the final by just five tenths of a second. 

Marchant and Capewell were joined on the day by Josie Knight, who picked up bronze in the women’s team pursuit, and BMX racer Beth Shriever, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games. 

The Manchester Bike Kitchen are a non-profit community organisation based in the Clarendon Square Mall in Hyde, which promotes bike-riding as a way to improve physical and mental health. 

The organisation’s mission is ‘to make cycling affordable’, by delivering bike repairs and servicing along with bike maintenance training to the public. 

Manchester Bike Kitchen also offer mental health support to people in the local community, including their ‘tea & tinker’ sessions, which encourage the older generation to get out and about. 

The athletes made the visit as part of the ‘ChangeMaker week’, an initiative set up by Team GB that gives Olympians the chance to give back to their local community.