Cycling: NZ return with biggest medal haul

The men's pursuit team won their first medal at a world championships in claiming bronze. Photo / AP

New Zealand came away from the world track championships clutching three medals, a gold, silver and bronze for their best ever haul although their riders finished out of the placings on the final day of the world track cycling championships in Pruszkow, Poland today.

Christchurch's Hayden Godfrey finished seventh in the defence of his world title in the gruelling, five-event omnium.

Godfrey started well with a win in the 200m time trial against an exceptionally strong field.

He then placed eighth in the scratch race, 10th in the individual pursuit, 16th in the points race and fifth in the kilometre time trial.

The event was won by Australian Leigh Howard from Canada's Zach Bell.

Lauren Ellis, who won team pursuit silver medal, finished 12th in the women's 25km points race.

She had an enterprising ride, and featured in four breakaway attempts, but her final effort to get a lap on the field sapped any remaining legs and she faded on the last two sprints.

The three medals and a fifth placing surpassed the two medals won at Japan in 1990 through Karen Holiday and Madonna Harris, at Berlin in 1999 by Sarah Ulmer and Anthony Peden and 2004 in Melbourne by Ulmer and Greg Henderson.

It unearthed another world champion in Alison Shanks who followed in Ulmer's footsteps with victory in the women's individual pursuit.

The women's pursuit team took a silver and the men's pursuit team scored a bronze, their first at a world championships, following on from the bronze at last year's Beijing Olympics.

" Overall I am satisfied with the team's performance," BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliott said.

"I am extremely proud of how the female programme performed with two medals from such a young developing team.

"There's a real culture within this group that is always looking for gains."

Selected results

Omnium: 200m time trial - Hayden Godfrey (NZ) 10.502sec 1; Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 10.534 2, Zach Bell (Canada) 10.756 3.

7.5km scratch - Robert Bartko (Germany) 1, Leigh Howard (Australia) 2, Volodymyr Diudia (Ukraine) 3. Godfrey 8.

3000m individual pursuit: Diudia 3min 17.055sec 1; Taylor Phinney (US) 3:17.387 2; Artur Ershov (Russia) 3:19.501 3. Godfrey 3:23.563 10.

15km Points - Veldt 8 points, 1; Howard 8, 2; Diudia 7, 3. Godfrey 0, 16.

Kilo time trial - Veldt 1:03.089 1; Phinney 1:03.458 2; Howard 1:03.533 3. Godfrey 1:04.736 5.

Overall points: Howard 19 1; Bell 21 2; Veldt 24 3. Godfrey 40 7.

Women's 25km points race: Georgia Bronzini (Italy) 18 points, 1; Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso (Cuba) 15, 2; Elizabeth Armitstead (Britain) 13 3. Lauren Ellis (NZ) 3 12.

- NZPA