KEY POINTS:
New Zealand flew out of the blocks at the world junior cycling championships in South Africa yesterday, winning two medals on the opening day.
Gemma Dudley won a silver in the women's 7.5km scratch race and Jason Christie a bronze in the men's 3000m individual pursuit at the Bellville covered velodrome in Cape Town.
The New Zealand team sprint trio of Aucklanders Ethan Mitchell, Myron Simpson and Sam Webster were edged out of a medal by just 16/100th of a second in the bronze medal ride-off against Poland. Only 8/100ths of a second separated the two teams in qualifying.
Dudley, from Levin, was prominent throughout her race as a group of 10 riders pushed clear to lap the rest of the field. In a hard-fought sprint to the finish, Dudley was pipped by Australia's Megan Dunn for the win.
Christie, from Ashburton, produced a personal best time of 3min 26.685sec in qualifying to earn a place in the medal ride-off.
He was in command in his bronze medal ride-off to beat Australian Luke Durbridge in 3:29.987.
Teammate Aaron Gate from Auckland set the fifth fastest time of 3min 28.219sec, just missing out on a medal ride.
American Taylor Phinney, son of cycling legends Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter-Phinney, won the individual pursuit gold medal, comfortably beating Australia's Rohan Dennis.
Manager Craig Adair said: "It was a great start for the team."
- NZPA
