Carlin's wait for major championship gold goes on

JACK CARLIN'S wait for a maiden major championship gold continued on a dramatic night at the velodrome in Munich. The Scottish cyclist, 25, had to settle for multi-sport European sprint silver behind French speedster Sebastien Vigier after surviving a controversial high-speed crash in the semi-final against Rayan Helal.

Ad Carlin, a two-time Olympic and combined seven-time World and European Championship medallist, has never climbed to the top of the podium at major international level and his rotten luck went on during an action-packed evening in Germany. CyclingBernal to return to racing – just seven months after life-threatening crash2 HOURS AGO After qualifying first and navigating his way to Sunday's semi-finals, Carlin clashed with Tokyo team sprint bronze medallist Helal in a best-of-three format to keep his hopes of gold alive.

He beat Helal in the first two-lap shootout before they collided in the second to leave Carlin battered, bruised and needing a new set of lycra. That looked to inflict an irreparable hammer blow to his hopes before Helal, 23, was dramatically relegated for impeding his opponent crossing the sprinter's inside line.

Six-time World Championship medallist Vigier, 25, fought back from behind to beat British star Hamish Turnbull in the other semi-final to tee up a tantalising clash with Carlin. Carlin triumphed in the first of the three encounters but Vigier turned the tables to leave the Scot despondent once again.

The Paisley peddler claimed team silver and individual bronze in Tokyo last summer and has racked up three World Championship silver medals and four European gongs, including Friday night's team bronze alongside Turnbull, 23, and Scot Alistair Fielding, 22. But his quest for a gold