Manawatu riders back on the podium in LA
There were two more medals for Manawatu track cyclists Michaela Drummond and Campbell Stewart on the final night of the UCI World Cup in Los Angeles on Monday [NZ time].
Drummond won a silver medal in the women’s madison, along with Racquel Sheath, with the pair also winning silver in the team pursuit on Sunday along Rushlee Buchanan and Jaime Nielsen.
Drummond, a junior world champion, fitted in well to the women’s team pursuit quartet, then worked well with Sheath in the 20km madison, a two-person points race with one rider in play at all times, with one rider handslinging the other into the contest.
Stewart teamed up with Invercargill’s Tom Sexton (Invercargill) to capture bronze in the madison, after Stewart had won a silver in the four-event, oneday omnium.
Stewart and Sexton, both junior world champions, worked well, picking up points in 10 of the 12 sprints in the madison.
Ireland were the only team to put two laps on the field to cement the victory with Denmark’s bold sprint for second in the final sprint enough to edge the New Zealand pair for the silver medal by one point.
The New Zealand men’s sprint team were also in form, as Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins delivered a composed ride to overpower Germany in the gold medal race.
World champions New Zealand led throughout the final to power home in 43.710 secs and topple Germany, who were victorious in the last round in Cali, Colombia, earlier this month.
The New Zealand trio clocked 43.620 secs to be fastest in the second round and qualify for the final against Germany, who were only 0.3s slower in winning their clash.
The Kiwi men’s sprint sparked a nine-medal haul by the New Zealand team in Los Angeles, the most they have achieved in a single world cup.
They were awarded world cup round winners for what is believed to be the first time.
It proved a gruelling day for sprinter Webster, who combined two rounds of the team sprint with the keirin competition.
In between keirin rounds, he was man-two in the strong morning ride of 43.620 in the first round of the team sprint, which earned them the gold medal ride with Germany.
By the time the final was run, Webster had completed three races in the keirin and felt decidedly second hand. Up stepped Mitchell, who was again fastest in the opening lap of the final in 17.3 as the Germans fought back to within 0.1s at the 500m mark.
Southland’s Dawkins showed his poise and power to produce a superb final lap for the New Zealanders to win in 43.710, with the Germans nearly 0.3s behind.
‘‘It’s been a really big day for me with 12 hours at the track yesterday and about the same today,’’ Webster said. ‘‘I am really pleased to come away with the win.’’
He said he was fatigued, but it was motivating seeing people step up and make gains. The other medal winner on day four was Nielsen, who took bronze in the women’s individual pursuit.