Silver lining redemption for Kiwi
New Zealand’s Aaron Gate has scored a silver medal in his quest to win a second men’s omnium title at the world track cycling championships.
The 30-year-old triple Olympian finished second to Britain’s Ethan Hayter in Roubaix, France, yesterday.
Hayter – the first Briton to win the crown since 2010 – totalled 180 points with Gate on 124.
It is Gate’s third medal in the omnium at the world championships, winning in 2013 and taking the silver in Hong Kong in 2017.
He was biding to deliver New Zealand’s fourth gold medal in the omnium after Hayden Godfrey (in 2008), Gate (2013) and Campbell Stewart (2019).
He was aiming to atone for his disappointment at the Tokyo Olympic Games where the Aucklander’s campaign ended in heartbreak when he crashed heavily and broke his collarbone while New Zealand were leading Australia in the bronze medal ride for the men’s team pursuit.
Gate – riding just 11 weeks after breaking his clavicle in Tokyo – said he was thrilled with the effort which in part helps erase his Olympic woes, and he wanted to share the performance with his Izu Velodrome team-mates.
‘‘I came into this not knowing how the track form was, and I only had couple of days on the track here in Roubaix before racing.
‘‘The podium was a goal, but I didn’t know if it was achievable or not until I started racing,’’ Gate said.
‘‘The scratch race went pretty well and set the tone and I progressed from there. I didn’t have the legs in the points race that I would have liked but at the same time, at the halfway mark I knew I was racing for second. Hayter was in a class of his own so I have to be pretty happy with that.
‘‘I guess it is some redemption, so to speak. Izu still hurts because it was a team event and I didn’t get a chance to stand up there with my team-mates but this is a bit of silver lining. I have some texts from the boys already and look forward to catching up with them.’’
Gate’s silver was the fifth omnium medal for New Zealand with gold in 2019 to Tokyo medallist Campbell Stewart and silver to successful road professional Shane Archbold, who is helping out as team director this week in Roubaix.
New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond and Ally Wollaston had a top-10 finish in the twoperson women’s madison, finishing ninth in the demanding 120-lap event, which is a points race with the teams inter-changing riders with a hand-sling action.