Men's team pursuit beat USA for bronze medal
- Dave Worsley
- 11 hours ago
- 3 min read
New Zealand men’s team pursuit produced an outstanding performance to claim the bronze medal to highlight day two of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Santiago, Chile today.
The Kiwi team thought it was two bronze medals after a superb ride by Campbell Stewart, originally given third place in the 10km race, which was restarted twice. However officials ruled the race went one lap more than it should, and on corrected result, Stewart was listed as fifth.
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That was disappointing given the outstanding performance from Stewart, a six-time world championship medallist, who will now turn his attention to the four-discipline omnium on Sunday (NZT).
The New Zealand team pursuit quartet of Nick Kergozou, Tom Sexton, Keegan Hornblow and Marshall Erwood were fourth fastest in qualifying for the bronze medal ride. They produced an excellent display in the ride-off against USA, clocking their best time of the competition of 3:48.877.
They employed a new tactic, slotting starter Kergozou in to third wheel on the first change as they edged ahead after the first kilometre. Kergozou did the extra stint before his planned exit with the three remaining riders just 0.5s ahead at the half way. They increased this to one second which they held comfortably to the finish.
“It was a really good ride by the boys. It was our fastest of the three rides over the two days,” said Sexton. “We qualified fourth, and ended up fourth after the first round, so to knock off the Americans for the bronze is cool.
“To get three rides at the world champs is really good and to win against the Americans is good.
“We are in a good position for the coming years and developing well. This is a good result that we will want to build and improve on next year leading into Commonwealth Games.”
The men’s 10km scratch race had a jumbled start and the race split apart with a group of five riders clear. Stewart joined the Netherlands rider to bridge the gap with some powerful riding before he rounded the group for he thought was the bell lap.
That proved not to be, when officials determined they had completed the 10km distance on the previous lap.
Earlier Olympic champion Ellesse Andrews was edged out in the quarter-finals of the women’s sprint, in her first major competition since the Paris Olympics. It was a tight competition with Andrews qualifying seventh in 10.432s but only 0.1s from the top qualifier.
After winning the first two rounds the kiwi rider, met Hetty van der Wouw (NED), who she beat in the keirin final in Paris, in the best of three-ride quarterfinals. The Dutch rider proved sharper in two tight rides to move to tomorrow’s semifinals.
Fellow sprinter Sam Dakin rode strongly in his qualifying races in the keirin, narrowly pipped for a spot in the finals. He tried a daring move in the 7th-12th ride-off and had to settle for 10th overall.
Tomorrow features Kergozou in the men’s 1km qualifying, Samantha Donnelly in the omnium, Ben Oliver in his first international track event in the individual pursuit qualifying and Sexton in the points race.
Results:
Women Sprint qualifying: Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER) 10.331, 1; Hetty van de Wouw (NED) 10.339, 2; Emma Finucane (GBR) 10.341, 3. Also: Ellesse Andrews (NZL) 10.432, 7.
Round 1: Andrews bt Nurul Mohd Asri (MAL) Round 2: Andrews bt Pauline Grabosch (GER) (0.054s); Quarterfinal: lost to Hetty van de Wouw (NED) 2-0.
Men Team Pursuit Final: Denmark 3:43.915 beat Australia 3:47.258. Bronze medal: New Zealand 3:48.877 beat USA 3:49.799.
Women elimination: Lara Gillespie (IRE) 1, Katie Archibald (GBR) 2, Helene Hesters (Bel) 3. Also: Bryony Botha (NZL) 20.
Men Keirin: Harrie Lavreysen (NED) 1, Leigh Hoffman (AUS) 2, Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) 3. Also Sam Dakin 10.