New Zealand’s Dylan Kennett will race for gold tonight after smashing the national junior individual pursuit record in qualifying at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Invercargill this afternoon.
The 17-year-old from Waimate clocked a time of 3:16:467 over the 3000m distance to be the second fastest qualifier of the field of 26 riders at Stadium Southland Velodrome.
“It was a great time, especially because it’s always hard to go really, really fast in the morning session,” said New Zealand coach Ross Machejefski.
“I’ve seen him hop round pretty fast in the days leading up to this but he went faster than we expected.”
Kennett will go head-to-head with Tom Bohli from Switzerland later tonight in pursuit of New Zealand’s first gold medal at the championships. The Swiss rider was just 0.3s faster than the kiwi in qualifying with Australia’s Alexander Morgan just 25/100ths of a second behind in third.
“Obviously Bohli is a phenomenal rider and we knew he was going to be quick. It’s going to be a great showdown so Kenny will go out there and give it all he’s got.
The previous New Zealand record holder, Te Awamutu cyclist Hayden McCormick, missed out on the medal rounds by just two spots after posting a time of 3:20:480 to finish sixth fastest.
In the women’s keirin, both Paige Paterson from Auckland and Southland’s Kate Dunlevey have advanced to tonight’s semifinals after solid performances in today’s qualifying session.
The 12 riders qualified include two each from Russia, Australia, USA and New Zealand, as well as one each from Malaysia, Belgium, Netherlands and Colombia.
Australian superstar Taylah Jennings continued her domination of the women’s omnium as she won the 2000m individual pursuit in a time of 2:25:270. With two events remaining in the six-leg competition, Jennings sits seven points clear of Elinor Barker (GBR) in second place. Auckland’s Racquel Sheath is currently in fourth position, just one point behind Gulnaz Badykova (RUS).
Day 4 results:
Men’s 3000m individual pursuit qualifying: Tom Bohli (SUI) 3:16.139, 1; Dylan Kennett (NZL) 3:16.467, 2; Alexander Morgan (AUS) 3:16.718, 3; Jon Dibben (GBR) 3:18.312, 4. Also: Hayden McCormick (NZL) 3:20.480, 6.
Women’s Keirin qualifying (top two to semifinals, rest to repechage) Heat 1: Jennifer Valente (USA) 1, Allee Proud (AUS) 2, Kate Dunlevey (NZL) 3. Heat 2: Daria Shmeleva (RUS) 1, Martha Bayona Pineda (COL) 2, Aline Tamez Vela (MEX) 3. Heat 3: Caitlin Ward (AUS) 1, Paige Paterson (NZL) 2, Lidia Pluzhnikova (RUS) 3.
Repechage (top 3 qualify), Heat 1: Lidia Pluzhnikova (RUS) 1, Kate Dunlevey (NZL) 2, Ummi Mohamad (MAS) 3. Heat 2: Elis Ligtlee (NED) 1, Shana Dalving (BEL) 2, Chloe Chepigin (USA) 3.
Women’s omnium, individual pursuit: Taylah Jennings (AUS) 2:25.270, 1; Elinor Barker (GBR) 2:26.370, 2; Racquel Sheath (NZL) 2:28.579, 3.
Standings after 4 rounds: Jennings 4, Barker 11, Gulnaz Badykova (RUS) 15 , Sheath 16.
New Zealand brought its medal tally to seven last night as the women led the way for the locals at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Invercargill.
Firstly it was Alexandra’s Sophie Williamson who bagged her second silver medal in as many days on the Stadium Southland Velodrome in the women’s scratch race.
Just 24 hours after a gutsy performance in the points race, Williamson was edged out in a three-way photo finish by Jennifer Valente (USA) and Georgia Baker (AUS). Unfortunately for the American though, the officials disqualified her for not holding her line in the final turn, handing Williamson another silver medal.
“I knew there was a few fast girls in there so I thought if I could take the sprint out of their legs by attacking a few times it could give me a better chance at the end,” said Williamson.
However, in a frustrating case of deja vu, Williamson attacked relentlessly for the entire 7.5km duration but much like last night, got very little support from any of the 12-strong field so failed to gain any traction and was forced to endure a bunch sprint finish.
“I had a plan from the start to race aggressively and I chucked on a small gear so that I was able to do that, but the racing was a little bit negative and it just didn’t happen, although I am happy with where I finished,” she said.
“Two medals is an improvement on last year which is great, and now I’m just looking forward to cheering on my teammates.”
Auckland’s Paige Paterson also grabbed a second medal of the championships in front of a passionate home crowd with a bronze in the women’s sprint.
“You always come into an event like this unsure of how the other riders from around the world have been going so for me to get a personal best and another medal, I’m really happy,” she said.
“The crowd was amazing. Normally in races you sort of zone out because you’re so focussed but tonight I was in the zone and still hearing the crowd so it was really cool.”
The 18-year-old, who collected a silver medal in the team sprint with Cantabrian Victoria Steel earlier in the week, beat Jennifer Valente (USA) 2-0 in the best-of-three bronze medal rides to secure a spot on the podium.
Paterson doesn’t have too long for celebration, however, as she gets back on the track tomorrow afternoon in the Keiran.
“That’s definitely my favourite race, the Keiran, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what I can do.”
Southland’s Tom Beadle was the best placed of New Zealand’s male sprinters as he finished in the men’s sprint in fifth place.
In the men’s omnium, Tayla Harrison from Canterbury finished outside the medals in seventh place. His best two finishes in the multi-event competition came via fourth placings in both the individual pursuit and the flying lap.
At the halfway point of the women’s six-leg omnium, Auckland’s Racquel Sheath sits in fourth place following an impressive second place in the points race. Australian Taylah Jennings holds a significant lead overall having won all three events to date.
Results day 3:
Men’s sprint qualifiers: Jacob Schmid (AUS) 10.447, 1; Santiago Ramirez Morales (COL) 10.526, 2; Jakub Vyvoda (CZE) 10.540, 3; Zachary Shaw (AUS) 10.564, 4; Zac Williams (NZL) 10.588, 5; Alexander Sharapov (RUS) 10.615, 6; Emerson Harwood (AUS) 10.628, 7; Tom Beadle (NZL) 10.694, 8; Joakim Albert (CAN) 10.694, 9; Matthew Rotherham (GBR) 10.712, 10; Vladislav Fedin (RUS) 10.739, 11; David Sojka (CZE) 10.764, 12; Jeremy Presbury (NZL) 10.787, 13; Emmanuel Mejia (MEX) 10.793, 14; Eric Johnstone (CAN) 10.934, 15; Conor Klupar (USA) 10.962, 16; Alexey Lysenko (RUS) 10.965, 17; Oliver Valensuela (MEX) 10.992, 18; Kaleb Kock (USA) 11.014, 19; Artsiom Zaitsau (BLR) 11.017, 20; Renzo Amoroso (ARG) 11.020, 21; Vladislav Novik (BLR) 11.072, 22; Ryosuke Saeki (JPN) 11.088, 23; Malek McCrone (MAS) 11.111, 24.
Round 1: Schmid bt McCrone, Ramirez Morales bt Saeki, Vyvoda vt Novik, Shaw bt Amoroso, Williams bt Zaitsau, Sharapov bt Koch, Harwood bt Valenzuela, Beadle bt Lysenko, Albert bt Klupar, Rotherham bt Johnstone, Fedin bt Mejia, Sojka bt Presbury.
Round 2: Schmid bt Sojka, Morales bt Fedin, Vyvoda bt Rotherham, Shaw bt Albert, Beadle bt Williams, Harwood bt Sharapov.
Repechage (winner to quarterfinals): heat 1: Sharapov 1, Sojka 2, Albert 3. Heat 2: Rotherham 1, Fedin 2, Williams 3.
Quarterfinals: Schmid bt Rotherham 2-1, Ramirez Morales bt Sharapov 2-0, Harwood bt Vyvoda 2-0, Shaw bt Beadle 2-0.
Fifth to eighth: Beadle 5, Rotherham 6, Vyvoda 7, Sharapov 8.
Women’s sprint, semifinals: Caitlin Ward (AUS) bt Paige Paterson (NZL) 2-0, Daria Shmeleva (RUS) bt Jennifer Valente (USA) 2-0.
Bronze medal ride: Paterson bt Valente 2-0. Gold medal ride: Shmeleva bt Ward 2-0.
Men’s Omnium: Flying lap: Jon Dibben (GBR) 1, Ferando Gaviria Rendon (COL) 2, Tirian McManus (AUS) 3. Points: Gaviria Rendon 1, Raman Tsishkou (BLR) 2, Dmitry Strahov (RUS) 3. Elimination: Vladyslav Kreminskyi (UKR) 1, Gaviria Rendon 2, Strahov 3. Individual pursuit: Dibben 1, McManus 2, Gaviria Rendon 3. Scratch race: Takuya Takashi (JPN) 1, Jonas Rickaert (BEL) 2, Maxime Froidevaux (SUI) 3. Time Trial:
Final standings: Gaviria Rendon 15 points, 1; Dibben 22, 2; McManus 23, 3; Dmitry Strahov (RUS) 35, 4; Vladyslav Kreminskyi (UKR) 39, 5.
Women’s 7.5km scratch race: Georgia Baker (AUS) 1, Sophie Williamson (NZL) 2, Sharna Dalving (BEL) 3.
There was a medal of every colour for Australia on the third day of competition at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Invercargill, New Zealand with Victoria’s Georgia Baker the best peformed in winning the women’s 7.5km scratch race.
That made her a three time junior world champion after being a member of the victorious team pursuit trios both this year and in 2011.
Defending world champion Jennifer Valente (USA) had crossed the line first but was relegated by officials for not holding her line in the final 200 metres. The decision gave Baker the gold ahead of New Zealand’s Sophie Williamson and Shana Dalving (BEL) was in third place.
Baker crashed midway through the race and Australian team manager Rik Fulcher said the 16-year-old did a great job to regain her composure in time to re-join the race.
“The mechanics got to her very quickly and put her back on her bike and in the race within the required time. She lost a bit of skin off her hip and her elbow but she switched on straight away and kept focused,” he explained.
The other medals of the night went to Victorian Caitlin Ward who claimed silver in the women’s sprint and Tirian McManus (NSW) who finished in the bronze medal position in the men’s omnium.
“Tirian’s bronze in the omnium was a great result, it has been a long two days for him,” Fulcher said
18-year-old Ward went down to Russia’s Daria Shmeleva in two photo finish heats while Paige Peterson (NZL) claimed the bronze medal.
“Both races were really close finishes (and) if I was going to get silver I wanted to make it a really hard fight … I did a personal best time by more than 0.2 seconds in (flying 200m) qualifying so I was really excited with that.
“I’m very proud of my silver, I’m very happy with how I raced and I’ve learnt so much, that’s all you can really ask for at a junior world championships when you’re aiming for the senior championships,” she said.
The Mount Eliza local had plenty of home support to see her win her second medal of the week.
“I have my mum and dad and nanna and grandpa here. They’re all ecstatic, they were all jumping up and down on their seats and I’ve never seen my grandma look so young, she was very excited and running around like a little school girl,” laughed Ward.
The world championship debutant said the experience of representing Australia has been invaluable.
“The honour of representing my country has been so exciting and more than I could ever ask for in a career and to be able to come away with two medals so far and hopefully some more is just so exciting,” said Ward who will also racethe keirin on Saturday and the 500m time trial on Sunday.
“I love keirin’s so hopefully I can get to the final and do some damage there.”
Day three's results take Australia’s medal tally to nine with two days of competition remaining, something which Fulcher said has made him “very proud.”
“Not only am I proud with the way they ride but the way they go about winning. They are very humble and with the results flowing like they have been, it has set a great moral within the team,” he said.
In the day’s other results, Taylah Jennings won the first three events in the women’s omnium and is on her way to another clean sweep of the event following her record win in 2011.
Zac Shaw, Jacob Schmid and Emerson Harwood have all qualified for the semifinals in the men's sprint, guaranteeing at least two more medals.
Saturday will feature medal rounds of women’s omnium, women’s keirin, men’s individual pursuit, men’s 25km points race and the men’s sprint.
Results summary after day three
Men's Team Pursuit - Jack Cummings, Evan Hull, Alex Morgan and Miles Scotson
Women's Team Pursuit - Georgia Baker, Taylah Jennings and Kelsey Robson
Women's Points Race - Taylah Jennings
Men's Kilometre Time Trial - Zac Shaw
Woen's Scratch Race - Georgia Baker
Men's Team Sprint - Emerson Harwood, Jacob Schmid and Zac Shaw
Women's Sprint - Caitlin Ward
Women's Team Sprint - Allee Proud and Caitlin Ward
Men's Omnium - Tirian McManus
The following reports have been received from the Junior World Track Championships in Invercargill:
Women's Scratch Race
By Lewis Jones, SIT Journalism Student
Defending world champion Jennifer Valente was relegated from gold in the Women’s scratch race final despite crossing the line first.
Valente from the US was relegated due to not holding her line in the last 200m.
She had crossed the line ahead of Georgia Baker (AUS) and Sophie Williamson (NZL) who were promoted to gold and silver respectively. Shana Dalving from Belgium claimed bronze.
Throughout the race it was the New Zealander who was the aggressor, she controlled the pace and rode strongly out of the turns.
At the start of the 12th lap Australian and eventual gold medallist Georgia Baker crashed out but re-joined the front of the pack by lap 16.
At the business end of the race, the last five laps, the action heated up with all three medallists hovering at the front of the pack.
The last lap saw the American take the lead before she was relegated, a disappointment for the defending champion from Moscow last year.
The ultimate gold medal was decided by the closest of margins between Baker and Williamson.
Women's Sprint Final
By Gordon Kilkerr, SIT Journalism Student
Russian sprinter Daria Shmeleva lived up to her nickname, the Pocket Rocket, when she won the gold medal in the women’s sprint final.
Shmeleva won the gold medal in two straight rides in the best of three race final over Australian Caitlin Ward.
The Russian, who is the world record holder over the 500m time trial, rode down Ward in the first final and dominated the second to claim the gold.
New Zealand’s Paige Paterson took out the bronze medal in two rides over American Jennifer Valente, who earlier was relegated after crossing the line first in the final of the women’s scratch race.
Valente took the lead in the first race but was run down in the straight by Paterson and it required a photo finish in the second final for the New Zealander to claim the honours.
Image of Georgia Baker courtesy of John Veage/Cycling Australia
New Zealand’s Tayla Harrison has improved his chances in the men’s omnium this afternoon with a fourth place finish in the individual pursuit at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Invercargill.
The 18-year-old Cantabrian posted a time of 3:24:122 over the 3000m distance to improve to share of sixth with the scratch race and kilo time trial remaining tonight.
Harrison was eighth in the standings overnight, from a field of 16 riders, following a fourth placing in the 250m flying lap, a disappointing points race, and a mid-table finish in the elimination race late last night.
Leading the men’s omnium is Fernando Gaviria Rendon (COL), followed by Tirian McManus (AUS) and Jon Dibben (GBR) in third.
Southland’s Tom Beadle progressed through to tonight’s quarterfinals in the men’s sprint after beating New Zealand teammate Zach Williams from Auckland by a nose in the one-on-one second round clash.
Beadle, part of the Oceania team pursuit winning combination, is proving his talent in the sprint division having recently switched his focus from endurance ranks.
All three Kiwi riders in Beadle, Williams and Southland’s Jeremy Presbury set personal best times in qualifying around the super-fast Stadium Southland Velodrome.
The women’s six-leg omnium got underway this afternoon with Auckland’s Racquel Sheath finishing sixth in the flying lap. World champion Taylah Harrison (AUS) continued her domination of the championships with a win in the first omnium event.
Results qualifying day 3:
Image courtesy of UCU Junior Worlds
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