Great Britain's new generation of track riders took silver in the men's Madison, with 22-year-old Ethan Hayter and 23-year-old Matt Walls finishing second behind Denmark.

Walls was dominant in the Omnium, and Hayter was looking for a second gold medal to make up for a disappointing result in the Team Pursuit, but Michael Morkoff and Lasse Norman Hansen proved their strength by winning gold with a combined 43 points and a tactically sharp run

The silver medal was an excellent reward for the two young British riders. Hayter crashed in Gent-Wevelgem, breaking his leg and injuring a tendon. Walls lost a big block of spring racing when he tested positive for COVID-19 at the Belgian Classic.

"Matt deserved two medals.

"He contracted the coronavirus and had a bit of a bad time. Olympic medals. He had a really good year. I won't say it hasn't."

The British pair started the 200-lap race aggressively and held the lead for a while after 50 laps, but stalled midway through the race.

"We caught fire in the middle of the race, but we managed to run out of gas at the end and finish. I literally gave it my all," Walls admitted.

"It was an incredible week. I'm disappointed I didn't get the gold medal, but I'm happy with the silver. But I'm happy to have won the silver medal.

The French and Belgian attacks looked to take the medal chances away from Great Britain, but Hayter and Walls came back strong on the last lap.

They came within one lap of the Belgians and their medal hopes, and one lap away from winning the gold medal.

"It's a shame we didn't win gold, but I'm happy we got the silver medal. The Danes were really strong.

"In the end we were three points behind," Hayter admitted. 'I was a little rusty and could have taken three points in a couple of sprints.'

"Considering we hadn't ridden Madison together for a long time, we fought pretty clever in the middle," Hayter explained.

"It was a bit of a gamble. We knew we were behind Denmark, Belgium, and Germany. But if we could get a few wheels going, we could almost make it up on the black line at the 60km mark. If one starts to suffer in Madison, the other one will have a hard time. The wheels run out, or they rest early. Matt started suffering, probably because of me.

"We both hit a little rough patch. I think I said to Matt when we saw 35 laps to go, 'Actually, I'm feeling a little bit better coming back here. 'I'm actually starting to feel a little bit better here.'

"Then I just followed the Danes. Then I gave it my all on the last straight and passed the sprinters with two laps to go. I knew that if I gave it my all there, I could overtake the Belgians and if all went well, win a medal."[31

Hayter and Walls will soon return to professional road racing, Hayter with Ineos Grenadiers, his team at the upcoming Tour of Norway, and Walls with Bora-Hansgrohe.