Jan 23rd, 10.  World champion Alison Shanks comfortably took out the gold medal in the individual pursuit on the opening night of finals at the UCI World Cup in Beijing.

Alison Shanks preparing well for World Championship defence in March  ©Hennes Roth/BikeNZ

Shanks dominated the final over Lithuania's Vilija Sereikaite, clocking 3:33.360 which is her third fastest time ever.

The Dunedin rider averaged over 50km/h in a well controlled performance.  

Shanks' time was over a second faster than her heat which had earned her the top qualifier position.  

Her finals time was more than 8s faster than Sereikaite's.

The result moves Shanks to second overall on the world cup standings as she prepares to defend her title at the world championships in Copenhagen in March.

Outstanding Southland prospect Tom Scully was also in the medals, claiming bronze in the final of the men's points race. He rode aggressively in the 30km final, part of a seven-strong break that put a lap on the field.

Canada's Zachery Bell took out the final when he lapped the field, with the New Zealander finishing strongly to grab third. He won two of the last four sprints and was second in the final dash to grab his bronze medal. Earlier he won his heat.

Auckland's Rosie McCall, riding under the Auckland-based GIS trade team, won a heat of the women's scratch race and finished 23rd in the final.

Earlier in the day New Zealand team sprint trio of Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill), Adam Stewart (Christchurch) and Sam Webster (Auckland) were just pipped out of the medal round despite a superb effort.

They clocked 45.104s for the 750m qualifying, more than half a second under their New Zealand record set at the Oceania Championships in Invercargill last November.

The BikeNZ trio were 2/100ths of a second behind Russia who claimed the last spot in the finals. In the finals race France beat Russia for the bronze while China surprised everyone with a win against the Australian Jayco team for the gold.

In the heats Dawkins started conservatively leading the team to 10th fastest over the first lap, with Stewart picking up the pace with the sixth best second lap and Webster storming home with the third fastest final lap to post their outstanding time.

New Zealanders in action on the second day include Shane Archbold, Myron Simpson, Aaron Gate and Hayden Godfrey in the men's team pursuit, Simon Van Velthooven in the keirin and Godfrey in the scratch race.

UCI World Cup, Beijing, day 1 finals

3000m women's individual pursuit:

1. Alison Shanks (NZL) 3:33.360
2. Vilija Sereikaite (LTU) 3:41.679
3. Tara Witten (CAN) 3:40.365

Men's Points Race (30kms):

1. Zachery Bell (CAN) 50 points
2. Ho Ting Kwok (HKG) 38
3. Tom Scully (NZL) 36

Women's Scratch Race:

1. Vera Koedooder (NED)
2. Ausrine Trebaite (LTU)
3. Evgeniya Romanyuta (RUS)

• Rosie McCall (GIS – NZL) - 23rd

Full results on the UCI site...

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