Oceania Cycling Championships – Day 4 Heats

BikeNZ continue their development in the new women’s team pursuit with two teams qualifying for tonight’s final track session at the Oceania Cycling Championships.

National women’s coach Dayle Cheatley put two teams into action without individual pursuit world champion Alison Shanks as they look for the best combination before announcing the team tomorrow to contest next week’s UCI World Cup in Melbourne.

The combination of Katie Boyd, Rushlee Buchanan and Lauren Ellis went fastest in 3:31.812, a second outside the national record, and will face the other New Zealand combination of Jaime Neilsen, Gemma Dudley and Joanne Kiesanowski who were timed at 3:34.991.

They will clash in tonight’s final, no doubt keen to lower the national record set by Waikato at the New Zealand Championships.

The New Zealand team of Shanks, Neilsen and Ellis won a silver medal at the world championships in March.

All the big guns are through to the final of the men’s keirin which will feature Australian Olympian Daniel Ellis, who won the sprint yesterday, world junior champions Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster, kilo time trial champion Eddie Dawkins and Simon Van Velthooven.

The last night of track action features finals of the men’s keirin, team sprint for women and under-19 men, team pursuit for men and women, the men’s keirin and scratch race for elite men and under-19.

The Oceania Championships finish tomorrow with the road race around a lap course in Gore.

Full results: www.bikenz.org.nz