Andrews stamps class on competition in UCI Track League in Berlin
Te Awamutu Sports Cycling Club alumna Ellesse Andrews stamped her class on a select field to win both the sprint and keirin finals in the UCI Track Cycling Champions League in Berlin last weekend.
It was the second of five nights of competition, comprising a select invitation field in a series with stops Mallorca, Berlin, Paris and London.
Andrews, the keirin world champion, won the opening round of the keirin, and repeated her win in Berlin but also added the sprint final. Both were won in dominant fashion.
She was the fastest qualifier in the sprint competition, the only female rider under 11 seconds, and went on to beat England’s Katy Marchant in the final.
Andrews hit the front with more than a lap to go in the keirin final, winning comfortably from Alessa Catriona-Propster (GER) and Lowri Thomas (GBR).
She now assumes the overall lead in the combined sprint competition.
Fellow Cycling New Zealand sprinters Sam Dakin and Callum Saunders enjoyed strong competitions.
Saunders was second in his semifinal to make his first sprint final, while Dakin was second in his heat but did not progress from the semi.
Dakin impressed in a ride from the rear to qualify for the keirin final, where he fought superbly to finish third, with Saunders missing out on the final in a sprint finish, but he is still sixth overall, with Dakin up to 10th.
The competition moves on to France this weekend, where the New Zealanders will get a chance to compete in the velodrome to be used for next year’s Paris Olympics, and will conclude with two nights in London.