Kiwis strike gold at World Cup
Young Kiwi riders Campbell Stewart and Tom Sexton have continued New Zealand’s winning run in the madison at the UCI Track World Cup.
The pair, both 20, secured victory in the final sprint to claim double points and overtake Australia to win the madison gold medal on the final day of the UCI Track World Cup in Hong Kong.
Stewart partnered with Aaron Gate to win the madison in equally outstanding fashion at the World Cup in Cambridge last week, with Sexton coming into the team to pair up with Stewart in Hong Kong, while Gate won the New Zealand Cycle Classic around the roads of Waipa on Sunday.
Stewart and Sexton, former silver medallists at the junior world championships, scored points on eight of the 12 sprints in the gruelling 30kms event, in which points are scored every 10 laps in the two-rider event.
Australia pushed to the lead in the competition as the only team to lap the field to gain the 20 bonus points.
But the Kiwis rallied with some typically aggressive riding and outstanding teamwork to score points in the last four sprints including the double points final dash which earned their victory.
Stewart and Sexton finished with 33 points, four ahead of Australia, with France third.
Stewart was fresh from his third in the omnium event two days earlier.
Meanwhile, Olivia Podmore won her repechage to move into the semifinals of the women’s keirin where she was narrowly edged out of the last spot for the final. She went on to finish eighth, with Hong Kong star Lee Wai-sze adding the keirin title to her sprint win.
The New Zealand team will return home with Cycling New Zealand to finalise the team next week for the upcoming world championships in Poland.