Gold medal ride for Kiwis in Cali

Dec 1st, 11. The NZ team pursuit squads continued their great form today when both men's and women's teams qualified for the gold medal finals of the UCI Track World Cup event in Cali Colombia.

NZ Women's team - top qualifiers

After they produced the fastest time in the world this year at the recent Oceania Championships (3:19.759), the Kiwi women were the ones to beat today and they did not disappoint.

They raced Australia in their heat, the final heat of the event, and although their time of 3:24.00 was not as quick as their time in Invercargill ten days ago, it was enough to beat the Aussies by almost 2.5sec and to head to tomorrow's final as the fastest qualifier.

The Cali Velodrome, while roofed, is open to the elements on the sides and wind was a factor during today's racing.

The proven combination of Alison Shanks, Jaime Nielsen and Lauren Ellis was only 9th fastest at the 1km mark, but their 2nd kilometre split was the second fastest, pulling them into 3rd place. The Kiwis flew around the final 1km to not only record the fastest final 1km time, but also the fastest time overall.  

Joining New Zealand in the gold medal ride off is the Great Britain team of Sarah Storey, Wendy Houvenaghel and Laura Trott. The bronze medal will be decided between the United States and Lithuania.

The Australians were disappointed to finish 5th, as team member Sarah Kent shared on Twitter, "Well I am stumped! Disappointment is an understatement. Can't believe after how good we felt in prerace, we get another 5th ... back to the drawing board. Time to get back on our game!"

NZ Men's team - 2nd qualifiers

The New Zealand men's team of Sam Bewley, Aaron Gate, Marc Ryan and Jesse Sergent raced Russia in their heat. Like the women, the Kiwi men started a little slower than some teams and at the 2km half way mark they were behind Russia and in 7th place on time overall.

They wound up their speed over the last 2km and, just like the women, their final 1km was the fastest final kilometre of all seventeen teams. Their final time of 4:04.612 qualified them for the gold medal ride off against top qualifiers Australia who rode 4:02.739.

The bronze medal will be fought between Denmark and Colombia. Great Britain did not send a men's TP team to Cali.