Strong pipped for medal at junior champs

SOUTHLAND rider Corbin Strong was edged out of a medal after an aggressive penultimate day of racing at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Switzerland.

Strong, who was part of the gold medalwinning New Zealand team pursuit, finished fourth.

He was only five points off a medal in the omnium competi tion at the UCI Velodrome in Aigle.

There was some fierce bunch racing and crashes in both the men’s omnium and women’s points race. New Zealand’s Annamarie Lipp escaped injury after she was caught in a nasty crash which brought a temporary stop to the race.

Strong, the Oceania Omnium champion, went into the decid ing points race in a share of second place.

It proved a hardfought encounter and none of the leading contenders was able to make a telling break. The New Zealander rode prominently to collect two thirdplacings and one fourth in the sprints, edged out of a spot on the podium by Australian Blake Quick, while Frenchman Donavan Grondin survived a warning for causing a crash to claim the gold.

Strong set himself up for the finale after placing eighth in the scratch race, fourth in the tempo and third in the elimination, with only 14 points covering the top four riders.

Earlier Lipp finished in the points race final. There were several falls and Lipp ran into the back of a fallen rider.

She recovered to push hard in the final sprint but Italy’s Silvia Zanardi, who also crashed earlier, claimed the honours to secure the gold medal.

Southland’s SophieLeigh Bloxham (35.663sec) and Nelson’s Shaane Fulton (35.842sec) finished seventh and eighth respectively in the women’s 500m time trial, with both Kiwi riders qualifying in the top eight for the final, after winner Lea Friedrich (German) set a world record of 33.922sec in qualifying.