Cycling: NZ contingent impress at World Cup

New Zealand;s pursuit team competes during day three of the UCI World Track Cycling Championships. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand completed their first steps towards the London Olympics with a real degree of satisfaction at the cycling World Cup meet in Melbourne.

There were no medals on the final night last night, with the best a fourth placing for a young and untried combination in the men's team pursuit, which was won by Australia.

The New Zealand team finished with a gold medal, two silvers and a bronze from the first of four World Cup classics, which provided the qualifying points for London.

The performances pleased BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliott, with a younger, development group competing in Melbourne as BikeNZ looks to expand the programme not only to London but beyond 2012.

The rookie team pursuit combination of Shane Archbold, 21, Aaron Gate, 20, Cameron Karwowski, 19, and Myron Simpson, 20, impressed with fourth place after a ride-off against Great Britain for the bronze medal.

The New Zealand quartet qualified in four minutes 08.802 seconds before reducing this to 4:02.364 in the medal ride, only just pipped by a full strength Great Britain combination by 0.10 sec in an exciting ride-off.

Australia won the gold medal in 4:00.308 from Russia in 4:01.511.

Sprinters Sam Webster (10.311) and Eddie Dawkins (10.356) qualified 17th and 19th, respectively, in the men's sprint, Gemma Dudley was 18th in the women's omnium and Stephanie McKenzie did not progress to the quarterfinals of the women's keirin.

BikeNZ will send a similar-sized team to the second World Cup classic in Cali, Columbia from December 16-18 and will target the third round in Beijing from January 21-23 with a full-strength team.

- NZPA