Second Gold for Shanks in UCI World Cup Cycling
New Zealand cyclist Alison Shanks claimed her second gold medal after winning the individual pursuit on the second day of the UCI World Cup in Colombia today.
Shanks dominated the gold medal ride in the 3000m individual pursuit to beat off Great Britain’s Beijing Olympic silver medallist, Wendy Houvenaghel in a repeat of their final in October’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
It follows the gold medal anchored by Shanks in yesterday’s final of the women’s team pursuit – one gold for her birthday after turning 28 on Monday and one gold as an early Christmas gift.
“I have to be happy with that. I had a big break after the Commonwealth Games and have only just kick-started the season again in the last month,” Shanks said.
“To be brutally honest I really wanted to crack that 3:30 mark tonight. I have ridden 3:30 so many times and only been able to crack that into the 20s to win the world champs back in 2009. I thought given the conditions tonight I was hoping to break that 3:30 barrier but there’ s plenty to work on and I have just started my season.”
The 28-year-old from Dunedin said she was uncertain of how she would perform at Cali.
“The main focus coming here was the team pursuit and we really stepped up and put out a good ride as well. With two hard rides already in the legs I was never too sure what I could produce in the individual. It’s been a pretty full-on 24 hours with four rides that’s for sure.
“But I’ve been feeling really strong in the last two weeks and putting down some good work in training and in the gym as well. It’s been a good campaign.”
Shanks went close to her best with a 3:30.868 in the qualifying ride with Houvenaghel second on 3:32.226 at the slick track in Cali. The New Zealand showed the benefit of a solid build-up with she went faster again at 3:30.258 in the final, finishing in the same straight as the British rider.
Palmerston North’s Simon Van Velthooven finished fifth in the final of the keirin. He missed out on automatic qualifying, but won his repechage and semifinal to give him high hopes going into the final.
However he had to settle for a solid fifth placing in a high class field where six-time world sprint champion Gregory Bauge (FRA) did not even make the final.
Meanwhile 21-year-old Timaru rider Shane Archbold finished eighth overall in the men’s omnium, the six-discipline event which has been included in the 2012 Olympics for the first time.
In a significantly stronger field than when he won in the Melbourne World Cup, Archbold was fifth today in the individual pursuit, 12th in the scratch race and seventh in the 1000m time trial to be. He is now third overall in the World Cup standings.
World individual pursuit champion Sarah Hammer (USA) opted to ride the omnium in Cali, winning all three disciplines on the first day – the flying lap, points race and elimination. Canterbury’s Joanne Kiesanowski lies in eighth place after finishing 12th in the flying lap, 14th in the points race and fourth in the elimination.
Tomorrow features the men’s team pursuit, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins in men’s sprint, Lauren Ellis in the points race and Kiesanowski in the second day of the women’s omnium.
UCI Track World Cup, Cali, day 2 New Zealand finals:
Women’s 3000m individual pursuit, qualifying: Alison Shanks (NZL) 3:30.868, 1; Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR) 3:32.226, 2; Pascale Schnider (SUI) 3:40.054, 3; Caroline Ryan (IRE) 3:40.600, 4. Gold medal ride: Shanks 3:30.258, 1; Houvenaghel 3:32.226, 2. Bronze ride: Schnider 3:38.403, 3; Ryan 3:39.314, 4.
Men’s omnium, day 2:
4000m individual pursuit: Juan Arango Carvajal (COL) 4:25.092, 1; Ed Clancy (GBR) 4:26.708, 2; Eloy Rovira (ESP) 4:26.999, 3. Also: Shane Archbold (NZL) 4:32.971, 5.
15km scratch: Artur Ershov (LOK) 1, Zach Bell (CAN) 2, Niki Byrgesen (DEN) 3. Also: Archbold 12.
1000m time trial: Clancy 1:01.773, 1; Carvajal 1:02.007, 2; Martyn Irvine (IRL) 1:03.533, 3. Also: Archbold 1:04.635, 7.
Overall after 6 events: Clancy 24 points, 1; Carvajal 26 points, 2; Bell 37, 3. Also: Archbold 54, 8.
Women’s omnium, day 1:
250m Flying Lap: Sarah Hammer (USA) 14.384, 1; Jollen D’Hoore (BEL) 14.576, 2; Tara Whitten (CAN) 14.608, 3. Also: Joanne Kiesanowski 15.091, 12.
Points: Hammer 45 points, 1; Jamilla Machacova (CZE) 28, 2; Charlotte Becker (GER) 27, 3. Also: Kiesanowski 2, 14.
Elimination: Hammer 1, Pascale Jeuland (FRA) 2, D’Hoore (BEL) 23. Also: Kiesanowski 4.
Standing after three events: Hammer 3 points, 1; D’Hoore 12, 2; Whitten 13, 3. Also: Kiesanowski 30, 8.
Men’s Keirin, round 1, heat 2: Gregory Bauge (FRA) 1, Simon Van Velthooven 2, Mjlsane Phillip (TRI) 3. Repechage heat 5: Van Velthooven 1, Hersony Canelon (VEN) 2, Peter Lewis (AUS) 3. Semifinal 1: Van Velthooven 1, Fablan Puerta Zapata (COL) 2, Francois Pervis (COF) 3. Semifinal 2: Aziz Awang (YSD) 1, Denis Spicka (CZE) 2, Jason Kenny (GBR) 3. Final: Awang 1, Pervis 2, Spicka 3. Also: Van Velthooven 5.