UCI World Track Cycling Championships

New Zealand cyclists set a world record and claimed two medals on a day of unparalleled success at the UCI World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen today.

Feilding rider Jesse Sergent won the silver medal following a brilliant morning qualifying ride, finishing second to defending champion Taylor Phinney (USA) in the 4000m individual pursuit.

The women’s trio of Alison Shanks, Lauren Ellis and Rushlee Buchanan bounced back from a mixed qualifying ride in the morning to blitz the world record in winning the bronze medal over USA in the 3000m team pursuit.

Teenager Sam Webster, the triple world junior champion, showed a glimpse of his undoubted potential to make the final of the men’s keirin won by Beijing Olympic superhero Sir Chris Hoy.

“It was a remarkable day for the team and the programme,” said BikeNZ High Performance Manager, Mark Elliott. “They put the work in and showed real fortitude. Jesse still had memories of his disappointment from last year and it took real fortitude from Ali to climb back after missing a medal yesterday.”

Shanks, who won the world individual pursuit gold in Poland last year, was tired and drained, leaving not leaving the velodrome until after midnight following drug testing but knowing she had to steel herself today.

“It was difficult. Yesterday was disappointing for sure and they were two really hard rides,” Shanks said. “At the same time I knew I had done the training and I knew there were two team-mates who were absolutely amping to do well.”

Things did not quite gel in the qualifying ride, clocking 3:24.405 to be third fastest, 1.3 seconds behind surprise top qualifiers Australia but slower than their silver medal performance last year and their winning time in the recent World Cup in Beijing.

“It was a bit up and down really. We sat down and planned the ride-off precisely right down to what lap each of us would take, at what speed and we went out and executed that plan to perfection. The world record was a consequence of focussing on that plan.

“It was fantastic. Of course we would have loved to have been in the gold medal ride. But in the big picture we are walking away from here as the fastest team in the world.
“Women’s team pursuit standards have risen quickly and are going to rise a lot more now this is an Olympic event. These championships were the start of that process to London and so we can take a lot from them and know we are in a very good place. It’s very exciting.”

The highlight of the morning was a stunning performance from Sergent who topped qualifiers in the men’s 4000m individual pursuit, clocking a remarkable 4:15.988. He is the first kiwi to go under the 4min 16 sec barrier, and nearly one second faster than his New Zealand record.

The 21-year-old was not able to back it up in the ride off for the gold medal where outstanding young American Taylor Phinney retained his rainbow jersey in 4:16.600 with Sergent two seconds back in claiming the silver.

The two finalists will head back to the US after the championships where they are teammates on the professional Trek Livestrong under-23 development squad.

It was a huge performance from Sergent who was keen to make amends for his disappointing fifth placing last year in Poland.

“The way I was tracking in training and the way our whole team was going, I knew that this sort of time was within reach,” Sergent said. “I had a good feeling in my legs this morning and all went to plan.

“My aim was to put everything into the morning ride. Last year was so disappointing and I wanted to make amends. It was no use holding back for the night. I had to leave everything out on the track this morning.

“It definitely took something out of my legs for the final but I was quite happy to back it up with a 4:18. I am still young and I know as I get older and with more road miles under me, that I will get stronger and will be able to back it up in the night ride. Right now I am so happy, and excited to get back here tomorrow to focus on the team pursuit.”

Webster (Auckland) and Simon Van Velthooven (Palmerston North) made their mark in the men’s keirin competition with Webster qualifying for the final after finishing third in his semifinal behind Hoy. Van Velthooven was fourth in his semifinal and went on to finish ninth overall.

Webster could not position himself well in the final, finishing sixth in his first outing at this level.

“To be top six in his first world championships at just 19 is impressive and Simon was not far behind. Sam is just a boy really in terms of sprint development so it is quite exciting going forward,” Elliott said.

Earlier talented 20-year-old Tom Scully finished a creditable seventh in the 15km scratch race. The young Southlander was prominent throughout but missed the vital break made by world champion Alex Rasmussen in front of his home crowd as he led a three-strong break that lapped the field.

Scully pushed clear in a three-strong break but the other two riders faltered with the peleton only 60m in front, leaving Scully in no man’s land.

Tomorrow sees New Zealand contesting the men’s 4000m team pursuit, Eddie Dawkins and Ethan Mitchell in the kilometre time trial and Rushlee Buchanan in the scratch race.

Day 2 results:
Men’s 4000m individual pursuit, qualifying: Jesse Sergent (NZL) 4:15.988, 1; Taylor Phinney (USA) 4:16.102, 2; Jack Bobridge (AUS) 4:17.168, 3; Alexander Serov (RUS) 4:18.356, 4. Also Wes Gough (NZL) 4:20.685, 7.
Gold medal ride: Phinney 4:16.600, 1; Sergent 4:18.459, 2.Bronze medal ride: Bobridge 4:18.066, 3; Serov 4:21.263, 4.
Women’s 3000m team pursuit qualifying: Australia 3:23.161, 1; Great Britain 3:23.369, 2; New Zealand (Rushlee Buchanan, Lauren Ellis, Alison Shanks) 3:234.405, 3; USA 3:24.661, 4.
Gold medal: Australia 3:21.748, 1; Great Britain 3:22.287, 2. Bronze medal: New Zealand (Rushlee Buchanan, Lauren Ellis, Alison Shanks) 3:21.552, 3 (wold record); USA 3:24.571, 4.
Men’s kierin, round 1, heat 2 (first two qualify): Francois Pervis (FRA) 1, Sam Webster (NZL) 2, Denis Spicka (CZE) 3. Heat 3: Aziz Awang (MAS) 1, Teun Mulder (NED) 2, Crhsitos Volikakis (GRE) 3. Simon Van Velthooven (NZL) 5. Repecharge heat 1: Van Velthooven 1, Spicka 2.
Semifinal 1 (first 3 to final): Chris Hoy (GBR) 1, Awang 2, Webster 3. Semifinal 2: Maximillian Levy (GER) 1, Mulder 2, Pervis 3, Van Velthooven 4.
Final 7-12: Matthew Crampton (GBR) 7, Michael Seidenbecher (GER) 8, Van Velthooven 9.
Final: Hoy 1, Awang 2, Levy 3. Also: Webster 6.
Men’s 15km scratch: Alex Rasmussen (DEN) 1, Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal (COL) 2, Kaxuhiro Mori (JPN) 3. Tom Scully (NZL) 7.
Details: www.bikenz.org.nz.

Image: The women’s trio of (from left) Alison Shanks, Rushlee Buchanan and Lauren Ellis after winning a bronze medal and setting a new world record in the 3000m team pursuit.

credit: Gerry McManus