21 Jan 2019

New Zealand top nation at Cambridge World Cup cycling meet

5:17 am on 21 January 2019

Cycling New Zealand is delighted that it produced world-class performances on the track and a world-class event with the UCI Track World Cup that finished in Cambridge yesterday.

New Zealand's Rushlee Buchanan and Racquel Sheath compete in the Madison.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

New Zealand was awarded the Best Overall Nation Award at the penultimate World Cup of the 2018-2019 season at the Avantidrome which offered important qualifying points for next month's World Championships and ultimately to the Tokyo Olympics.

They won five of the 12 events along with two bronze medals and established national and world-class times in their performances.

"The event was a significant success as we again showed we can produce world-class events here in Cambridge which is a tribute to our events team," said Jacques Landry, Acting CEO.

"On the track the whole team responded to the challenge, not only with success but with outstanding performances like the men's team pursuit who recorded the second fastest time in history.

"We have a largely young team and a new coaching group and they will only grow from this experience.

"We also gave our young Performance Hub riders from the Vantage and Subway teams some invaluable experience and a chance to test themselves in the stress of a World Cup.

"We are thankful for the commercial backing from our sponsors especially the Grassroots Trust and for the support from fans who packed the Avantidrome."

New Zealand won two bronze medals on the final day.

Racquel Sheath and Rushlee Buchanan combined to win a bronze medal in the Madison.

Jessie Hodges won bronze in the women's scratch race.

Ethan Mitchell was beaten by a French rider in the ride-off for bronze in the individual sprint.