Oceania Track Cycling Championships
New Zealand riders won three golds in a seven-medal haul on the second night of finals at the Oceania Track Cycling championships in Adelaide last night.
The Commonwealth Games pair of Shane Archbold (Timaru) and Jaime Nielsen (Hamilton) won gold medals in the men’s omnium and women’s individual pursuit while Invercargill’s Peter Bulling, a late addition to the team, won the under-19 points race.
Kiwi riders won a clean sweep of the six-event men’s omnium with Archbold claiming gold ahead of his Delhi team-mates Myron Simpson and Aaron Gate, both from Auckland.
Archbold won both the individual pursuit and his favoured scratch race to gain the victory in the new Olympic event which will make its debut in London.
“We now have to firmly focus on the omnium which is a very challenging race with six events over two days,” said BikeNZ coach Stu MacDonald.
“The guys raced really strongly. They are all only recently back from a break after the Commonwealth Games and will present us with a group capable of world class performances in this event.”
Nielsen, a convert from rowing, won her first significant international title when she outlasted Commonwealth Games team-mate Kaytee Boyd in the battle for gold in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit.
Nielsen, who was fourth in this event in Dehli, proved too strong for Boyd although MacDonald was impressed with the developing depth in the women’s ranks.
“The focus will be on the new women’s team pursuit and the more women we have riding world class times in the individual pursuit will clearly help in the push to continue to raise the bar in the team pursuit.”
The Australians dominated the women’s omnium with Lauren Ellis the best of the kiwis in sixth place.
The hosts also proved too strong in the men’s sprints with Southland’s Eddie Dawkins grabbing the bronze medal.
Day 2 results:
Men:
Omnium, round 4, 400m individual pursuit: Shane Archbold (NZL) 4:27.566, 1; Myron Simpson (NZL) 4:27.789, 2; Aaron Gate (NZL) 4:28.118, 3. Also Jason Allen (NZL) 4:33.898, 4. Omnium, round 5, 1000m time trial: Simpson 1:04.387, 1; Archbold 1:05.176, 2; Brent Nelson (AUS) 1:05.489, 3.Omnium, round 6, Scratch race, 15km: Archbold 1, Gate 2, Nelson 3.
Omnium Final: Archbold 9 points, 1; Simpson 16, 2; Gate 19, 3. Also Allen 31, 5.
Sprint qualification: Shane Perkins (AUS) 10.178, 1; Sam Webster (NZL) 10.385, 2; Eddie Dawkins (NZL) 10.392. Also: Ethan Mitchell (NZL) 10.472, 5.
Quarterfinals: Perkins bt Mitchell Bullen (AUS) 2-0, Andrew Taylor (AUS) bt Webster 2-1, Dawkins bt Matthew Glaetzer (AUS) 2-1, Peter Lewis (AUS) bt Mitchell 2-0. Semifinals: Lewis bt Perkins walkover; Taylor bt Dawkins 2-0. Final: Lewis bt Taylor 2-0. Bronze: Dawkins won walkover. 5th-8th: Glaetzer 1, Webster 2, Bullen 3, Mitchell 4. Time: 10.360.
Under-19 Points race, 20km: Pieter Bulling (NZL) 15 points, 1; Mitchell Benson (AUS) 13, 2; Phillip Mundy (AUS) 11, 3.
Women:
Omnium, round 4, 300m individual pursuit: Sarah Kent (AUS) 3:40.793, 1; Katherine Bates (AUS) 3:43.533, 2; Melissa Hoskins (AUS) 3:43.553, 3; Lauren Ellis (NZL) 3:44.540, 4. Omnium, round 5, 500m time trial: Isabella King (AUS) 37.006, 1; Hoskins 37.017, 2; Annette Edmondson (AUS) 37.113, 3. Also: Gemma Dudley (NZL) 38.319, 8; Ellis 38.369, 9. Omnium, round 6, Scratch race 10km: Hoskins 1, King 2, Edmonson 3. Also: Ellis 4, Dudley 10.
Omnium Final: Hoskins 15 points, 1; King 16, 2; Kent 26, 3. Also: Ellis 32, 6; Dudley 56, 9.
Sprints, quarter finals: Anna Meares (AUS) bt Henrietta Mitchell (NZL) 2-0; Kaarle McCulloch (AUS) bt Holly Williams (AUS) 2-0, Stephanie Morton bt Natasha Hansen (NZL) 2-0; Emily Rosemond (AUS) bt Cassendra Kell (AUS) 2-1. Final: Meares bt McCulloch 2-0; Bronze: Rosemond bt Morton 2-0. 5-8th: Williams 1, Hansen 2, Mitchell, 3. Time: 12.779.
3000m individual pursuit qualifying: Jaime Nielsen (NZL) 3:42.080, 1; Kaytee Boyd (NZL) 3:42.990, 2; Dale Tye (NZL) 4:47.987, 3; Rebecca Werner (AUS) 3:50.176, 4. Final: Nielsen 3:41.497, 1; Boyd 3:42.819, 2. Bronze: Werner 3:48.504, 3; Tye 3:51.754, 4.
Full results: www.bikenz.org.nz