New Zealand has won its second title at the World Junior Track Cycling Championships in Switzerland.
New Zealand cyclist Campbell Stewart. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The men's pursuit team won gold, breaking the world record in beating Denmark in the final.
The win follows the women's sprint team success yesterday.
After qualifying fastest on the first day, the men's squad of Campbell Stewart, Jared Gray, Tom Sexton, Connor Brown and Josh Scott overlapped Australia in the semi-finals before taking a second off the world record in the final.
The New Zealand women's pursuit team of Michaela Drummond, Emily Shearman, Kate Smith and Nicole Shields won silver after losing to Italy in the final.
The Italians broke the world record set by New Zealand when they won in Kazakhstan last year.
It was the sixth time in eight years that New Zealand women have earned a medal in the team pursuit at these championships and with the majority of this team also eligible to compete next year, there seems no reason why this success cannot continue.
The men's team pursuit continues a rich heritage in this event that dates back to the bronze medal win in 1993 in a quartet that included Julian Dean, who went on to become a legend in the sport. It is just the second time that New Zealand has won the gold medal following the efforts at Vienna in 2005 by a team that included latter Olympic medallists Jesse Sergent, Sam Bewley and Westley Gough.
Yesterday's team sprint champions Ellesse Andrews and Emma Cumming finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 500m time trial, while Southland sprinter Bradly Knipe was 10th in the keirin, after missing out by one place on a spot in the final.
