Silver, bronze for veteran Kiwi track riders
- Dave Worsley
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
Cycling New Zealand veteran stars Bryony Botha and Campbell Stewart brought their collective tally to 13 medals on the final day of the UCI Cycling World Championship in Santiago, Chile.
The two medals on the final day brought the New Zealand tally to five medals, a total that has only been bettered once at the Glasgow Super Worlds two years ago.
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Botha won the bronze medal after leading into the final lap of the women’s 25km Points race where Mexico’s Yareli Acevedo Mendoza completed a remarkable solo effort to lap the field.
The 20 bonus points was sufficient for the Mexican rider to emerge as the winner, while Great Britain’s Anna Morris dug deep to win the double-point last sprint to edge Botha for second.
However Botha earned her sixth world championship medal with bronze on the back of putting two laps on the field and picking up points on four of the 10 sprints.
“I went in with full intent and tried to go with every move which seemed to work well in my favour,” said Botha. “I was seeing a bit red over the last 20 laps and tried to survive.
“I actually came off the track thinking I was fourth or fifth but my coach told me I was third. I started crying - I couldn’t believe it.”
The men’s elimination proved an exciting affair, where the last rider is eliminated every second lap. Stewart managed to allude the dangers in a packed first half of the race before moving forward as the field reduced in size.
He was in commanding form as the dispatched the Dutch rider Yoeri Havik to set up a final sprint against legendary multi world champion Elia Viviani.
The Italian, a double gold medallist and the Rio Olympic gold medallist, was looking for a golden end in his final ride before retirement. He edged the kiwi in a fierce final battle for the gold medal.
Stewart secured the silver for his seventh world championship medal, dating back to 2019 in Poland where he and Botha both secured their first world championship medals.
“It was dicy out there at times but after the omnium yesterday, I learned a few things,” said Stewart.
“I managed to ride the bubbles and push at the right times. In the end I probably gave Viviani the perfect retirement gift – it was close and I gave it my all but couldn’t quite get there.”
Earlier Ellesse Andrews was blocked and edged out in the semifinals of the women’s keirin competition, finishing 11th in the ride-off.
The competition concluded with the arduous 50km two-rider Madison, with the kiwi pairing of Tom Sexton and Keegan Hornblow impressing with sixth place with the race won by Belgium.
Cycling New Zealand high performance director, Ryan Hollows, said the team had ticked the boxes in the world championship campaign.
“This year we had a focus on development and looking ahead, we also tried some different approaches,” said Hollows.
“We’ve seen new riders like Marshall Erwood, Ben Oliver and Prue Fowler impress at their first world championships and add to our depth.
“We believe we have ticked the boxes for what we had planned to achieve this year.
“We can now prepare to turn up the heat as we look ahead to the Commonwealth Games next year and build ultimately to the Los Angeles.”
Results:
Women Keirin, first round, heat 3: Hetty van de Wouw (NED) 1, Ellesse Andrews (NZL) 2 – both qualified; Alessa-Catriona Propster (GER) 3. Quarterfinals 1: Stefany Cuadrado Florez (COL) 1, Miriam Vece (ITA) 2, Ellesse Andrews (NZL) 3. Semifinal: Stefany Florez (COL) 1, Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER) 2, Alessia McCaig (AUS) 3. Also: Andrews 6.
Women Points 100 laps: Yareli Acevedo Mendoza (MEX) 63 points, 1; Anna Morris (GBR) 58, 2; Bryony Botha (NZL) 56, 3.
Men Elimination: Elia Viviani (ITA) 1, Campbell Stewart (NZL) 2, Yoeri Havik (NED) 3.
Men 50km Madison: Belgium 86 points, 1; Great Britain 76, 2; Germany 66, 3.