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Four performances in the top seven earned important Olympic qualifying points without podium reward for New Zealand riders on day three of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in France.
Closest was Southland’s WorldTour professional rider Corbin Strong who was edged out by millimetres in the final sprint to settle for fourth in the 40kms Points race.
Fellow Southlanders Tom Sexton and Nick Kergozou along with Manawatu’s Micheala Drummond recorded personal best performances in finishing sixth, seventh and seventh respectively in their finals.
A key part of the championships was to gain qualifying points and experience looking ahead to the 2024 Paris Olympics with the track competition to be staged on the same track at the St Quentin En Yvelines Velodrome.
Strong, the 2020 World Champion in this event, produced an excellent performance in the Points race, scoring in eight of the 16 sprints to always feature near the top of the table.
He led out in the final double points sprint but was pipped in the final 20m by German Roger Kluge and Belgium Fabio van den Bossche who took the maximum points to edge Strong back to fourth overall.
“It was a good ride. I am a little bummed to miss out on the podium,” said Strong. “I ran out of legs I guess in the last 50m or so. With five to go I looked up at the board and all the guys I didn’t want to get points were sitting in front of me and the Japanese rider was leading out in front. The only thing I could do was try to go over them which is what I did but just ran out of legs.
“That dropped me from second to fourth which is never nice but it was a performance I can be proud of.
“I really wanted to win another world title. There’s lots of valuable things at a world championship like learning the track and picking up points but we are here at the world champs and the main goal for me is winning a world title.
“It was a shame just missing out on a medal but I have another chance in the elimination on the last day.”
Sexton set a personal best 4:08.679 in qualifying sixth fastest in the 4000m individual pursuit, just under the time he set in winning the silver medal at the recent Commonwealth Games.
The event was highlighted with a new world record to Italian superstar Filipo Ganna who clocked 3:59.636 to beat the previous record set at high altitude, and only days after he smashed the world on- hour record, covering 56.792km.
Kergozou, the starter in the men’s team pursuit, set a personal best 59.930s in qualifying seventh fastest against the powerhouse sprinters in the 1000m time trial. He finished seventh in the final in a slightly slower time.
Drummond produced an excellent and consistent performance to finish seventh in the four-discipline omnium. The double medallist at the Commonwealth Games started strongly to be fourth in the scratch race and seventh in the tempo. The BePink team professional was disappointed to be blocked on the inside early in the elimination and was ninth in the points race.
Overall she finished seventh overall but only nine points off the podium.
Drummond will pair up with Ally Wollaston in the madison tomorrow. Others in action include Commonwealth Games champion Bryony Botha in the individual pursuit and Aaron Gate in the omnium.
Results Day 3:
Men 1000m time trial, qualifying: Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) 58.294, 1; Matteo Bianchi (ITA) 59.460, 2; Melvin Landerneau (FRA) 59.549, 3. Also: Nick Kergozou (NZL) 59.930, 7. Final: Hoogland 58.106, 1; Landerneau 59.568, 2; Martinez Chorro (ESP) 59.891, 3. Also: Kergozou 1:00.340, 7.
Women omnium: Scratch: Jennifer Valente (USA) 1, Clara Coppon (FRA) 2, Maggie Coles-Lyster (CAN) 3. Michaela Drummond (NZL) 4. Tempo: Maike van der Duin (NED) 23 points, 1; Anita Stenberg (NOR) 22, 2; Maria Martins (POR) 22, 3. Also: Drummond 4, 7. Elimination: Valente 1, Elisa Balsamo (UTA) 2, Lotte Kopecky (BEL) 3. Also: Drummond 12. Points: Kopecky 31, 1; Yumi Kajihara (JPN) 30, 2; Amelie Dideriksen (DEN) 25, 3. Also: Drummond 9, 8. Total: Valente 118, 1; van der Duin 109, 2; Martins 99, 3. Also: Drummond 87, 7.
Men individual pursuit (4000m) qualifying: Filippo Ganna (ITA) 4:00.693, 1; Jonathan Milan (ITA) 4:03.012, 2; Dan Bigham (GBR) 4:05.181, 3. Also: Tom Sexton (NZL) 4:08.679, 6. Final, Gold: Ganna 3:59.636, 1 (World Record); Milan 4:03.7909, 2; Alves Oliveira Manuel (POR) 4:08.739, 3; Bingham 4:09.956, 4.
Men Points Race: Yoeri Havik (NED) 76 points, 1; Roger Kluge (GER) 67, 2; Fabio van den Bossche (NED) 64, 3. Also: Corbin Strong 62, 4.