Rio 2016 Paralympics: Steve Bate says podium moment was tougher than Yosemite mountain climb

Steve Bate reckons climbing the steps of the Paralympics cycling podium were harder than tackling one of America’s most notorious mountains.

Visually-impaired Bate and his pilot Adam Duggleby won gold in the men’s B 4,000m individual pursuit track cycling event yesterday in the Rio Velodrome.

This was the third gold medal won by Britain within the space of 70 minutes, following on from Megan Giglia and Dame Sarah Storey’s respective successes.

Bate, who has a disease that has robbed him of his peripheral vision, became the first visually impaired person to solo climb 3,000ft (900m) El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2012. But the adventurer-turned-cyclist says he was far more emotional after he beat Dutchman Vincent ter Schure in the final than when he tried to master the famous vertical rock formation in the US.

Bate, who turned 39 last month, said: “Climbing on to that podium has been the hardest climb I have ever done.

“El Capitan, I don’t want to take anything away from that, because it was really hard, but that was on all my terms.

“You don’t need to qualify for anything. You just need the skills and go and give it a bash.

“Coming here, you are constantly being tested, it wasn’t on our terms.

“Adam has been riding for 20 years and is a phenomenal rider. He has raised a high standard straight from day one. I have tried really hard to do him justice and do us justice. Those two steps were pretty bloody tough.

“It’s surreal at the moment. I had six days to process El Capitan. I wasn’t sure if I could back my world-record run from the morning, I had a lot of doubt. But this is awesome.”