In an absolutely electrifying final here in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, the Scottish team of Neil Fachie and Craig Maclean took the Gold after beating the Australian Duo of Kieran Modra and Jason Niblett.
The Aussies had taken an early lead in the first race only for the Scots to pip them at the post in the second, setting up a nail-biter for the third.
Close for the first 3 laps of the 5, the Scots waited until the last lap before powering into a sprint that saw off their rivals in style.
WHAT THEY SAID
Neil Fachie (SCO) – gold
On comparing the sprint to the time trial gold he won on Friday:
“I thought yesterday was hard but that was ridiculous (today). To do that in this crowd was phenomenal I’m never ever going to forget it. How we got through I don’t know.”
On riding together with Maclean:
“I think most of the pressure is on each other and not to let each other down. We just don’t want let the fans down.”
Craig Maclean (SCO) – gold
On their expectations before the final:
“We were on the back wheel this morning, we were dealing with fatigue you don’t get a chance to recover. I thought we’d just be saving face and not finishing too far behind.”
On race tactics:
“We kind of resigned ourselves to the fact it was a silver medal. Our tactics worked in our favour and they (silver medallists Kieran Modra (AUS) and Jason Niblett (AUS)) fell into our trap. Coming up and winning in the second heat gave us momentum.”
“They wind up for four or five laps at high speed, we waited for them to fatigue and took over. We’re quite physical riders we can take it up to the back.”
Kieran Modra (AUS) – silver
On their final opponents Neil Fachie (SCO), Craig Maclean(SCO), the gold medallists:
“Fachie and Niblett were excellent competition.”
On the Glaswegian crowd:
“All you can hear when you’re out there is ‘Go Glasgow!’ Or something along those lines. I could hear them as well as Neil on every lap. But good on them. We fought as hard as we could but they (Fachie and Niblett) were fantastic. I really admire them.”
On pilot Jason Niblett:
“Jason did a brilliant job on the front. I came from pursuit to sprint so I’m stepping on to his turf.”
Jason Niblett (AUS) – silver
On riding against Scottish opposition (Neil Fachie, Craig Maclean):
“I don’t think we’d have made it out alive if we had won.
“Glasgow was the winner. It saw the best tandem sprint cycling we have seen. They were treated to a good old fashioned tandem race.”
On winning silver:
“Both of us can walk away with our heads held high. We broke a Commonwealth record this morning and that was the icing on the cake. The second heat took a lot out of us today.”
On the tandem sprint not being on at the 2016 Paralympic Games:
“It’s a shame that the event’s not on at Rio. It seems a lot of riders are retiring from single bikes and going to tandem so it could have made a great spectacle.”