Cycling: Pursuiters 'bitterly disappointed' at world champs

New Zealand were left disappointed after a sluggish start to their world track cycling championships campaign in the Netherlands this morning (NZt).

The men's team pursuiters were unable to hang on to the bronze medal they won in Poland last year, going down to Beijing Olympic champions Britain.

After a solid but unspectacular rider in qualifying, they were disappointed not to be able to improve on that in their match up against Britain, clocking four minutes, 05.977 seconds.

Timaru's Marc Ryan said the pursuit team were bitterly disappointed after returning some outstanding times in training.

"In the morning ride, it didn't come together. The gear was a bit heavy for us. Tonight we geared down but it was pretty much the same. It just didn't click this time," Ryan said.

"Everything leading in to the competition looked like we were going to lay down a real good time.

"We came here in the best form ever. But it just didn't happen. It's gutting. Everyone in the team is gutted because we all know what we are capable of.

"We were definitely capable of being in the final. It's very disappointing.

"Our team is technically very good and we don't have trouble adapting to different tracks. We have to go away and work out what went wrong and come back stronger."

The New Zealanders produced a solid 4min 04.184sec in qualifying with no team going under the four minute barrier.

Top qualifiers Australia went on to claim the gold medal when they blitzed Russia in the final with a superb time of 3min 57.832sec.

Britain were only marginally faster in the ride-off, clocking 4min 02.781sec to beat the kiwis who had dropped two seconds behind the Brits by the midpoint of the 4000m race.

Experienced Christchurch professional Joanne Kiesanowski warmed up for her omnium event later in the championships with a solid ninth placing in the 25km points race.

Bulgaria's Tatsiana Sharakova won the gold medal after putting a solo lap on the field, ahead of Czech Jarmila Machacova who won four straight sprints.

Kiesanowski finished strongly by winning the penultimate sprint.

The young New Zealand sprint team of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins finished sixth fastest in qualifying for the team sprint earlier in the day.

They clocked 45.032sec, just outside their best but only a second slower than top qualifiers and world champions France. The top five spots went to powerhouses France, German, Great Britain, Australia and Russia.

Tomorrow's programme sees Jesse Sergent in the individual pursuit, the women's team pursuit and Eddie Dawkins and Sam Webster in the men's sprint qualifying.

NZ results, day one: Team pursuit, 4000m qualifying: Australia 4min 00.168sec, 1; Russia 4:00.965, 2; Great Britain 4:02.764, 3; New Zealand (Sam Bewley, Peter Latham, Marc Ryan, Jesse Sergent) 4:04.164, 4.

Gold medal ride: Australia 3:57.832, 1; Russia 4:02.229, 2. Bronze: Britain 4:02.781, 3; New Zealand 4:05.977, 4.

Team sprint qualifying: France 43.951, 1; Germany 44.101, 2; Britain 44.128, 3; Australia 44.501, 4; Russia 44.805, 5; New Zealand (Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster, Eddie Dawkins) 45.032, 6; Netherlands 45.047, 7; China 45.112, 8; Poland 45.217, 9; Japan 45.462, 10.

Women's 25km points race: Tatsiana Sharakova (Belarus) 30 points, 1; Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 20, 2; Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) 14, 3. Also: Joanne Kiesanowski (New Zealand) 6, 9.

- NZPA