Silver lining for BikeNZ at world junior cycling

New Zealand have won a fifth medal on the third day of the UCI Juniors World Championships in Capetown, South Africa today.

Levin rider Gemma Dudley continued her dream run with a third medal, joining teammates to win the silver medal in the team pursuit at the Bellville Velodrome.

This takes New Zealand to five medals in just three days and in line for their most successful junior world championships.

While there were no further medals, there were outstanding top-five finishes for Jason Christie in the Points Race and Myron Simpson in the Kilo Time Trial, where team-mate Sam Steele was eighth.

Dudley joined the Invercargill pair of Sequoia Cooper and Cathy Jordan to finish with the silver medal in the 3000 team pursuit.

They qualified second fastest two seconds behind Australia in 3:43.671 to earn the gold medal ride-off.
Australia started powerfully in the final with the New Zealanders holding them over the second kilometre before they faded over the final 1000m to settle for an excellent silver medal in 3:44.805 with Belgium taking the bronze medal from Russia.

Simpson (Auckland) was fifth fastest in the Kilo Time Trial with a strong 1:06.701 which was only one second outside the bronze medal ride. Teammate Steele (Christchurch) was eighth in 1:07.263.

Jason Christie produced an outstanding ride to finish fifth in the 24km Points Race, grabbing three sprint wins, the only rider to win more than one.

He rode powerfully to move into contention but was unable to latch on to a telling late break by four riders who put a lap on the field and cost the New Zealander a medal.

New Zealand results, day 3, UCI Juniors World Championship, Capetown:
Women’s Team Pursuit (3000m):
Gold medal ride-off: Australia 3:37.138, 1; New Zealand (Sequoia Cooper, Gemma Dudley, Cathy Jordan) 3:44.805, 2.
Bronze medal ride-off: Belgium 3:42.452, 3; Russia 3:45.368, 4.
Qualifying: Australia 3:41.486, 1; New Zealand 3:43.671, 2; Belgium 3:45.743, 3.
Men’s Kilo Time Trial: Quentin Lafarge (FRA) 1:03.860, 1; Thomas Palmer (AUS) 1:04.829, 2; Scott Law (AUS) 1:05.486, 3.
Men’s Points Race, 24km: Josh Van der Sande (Bel), 2 laps, 49 points, 1; Cristobal Olararria (CHI), 2 laps, 46, 2; Luke Durbridge (AUS), 2 laps, 45, 3; Jason Christie (NZL) 1 lap, 39, 5.