Cycling: Team sprint record rare failure

The men's sprint team of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins failed to fire in Cali. Photo / Getty

The New Zealand men's team sprinters are vowing to make amends on home turf in Cambridge next month after a rare failure in the opening round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Colombia today.

The trio of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins, normally meticulous in their execution, were out of sync on a windy day of qualifying action in Cali, where the velodrome is open on the sides.

They could not get on to the wheel of the rider ahead and, with the swirling winds, third man Eddie Dawkins was unable draft from Webster ahead. Their time of 45.463 was a distant 16th with Mitchell believing the team will be fired up to put things right when the second stop in the World Cup is staged in Cambridge.

"It was a tough day," he said. "We just didn't gel from the start and, in an event usually decided by 100ths of a second, things can go from good to bad quickly.

"With this Cali track open to the elements, and on a windy day it amplifies any mistakes and we were just untidy. It hurts for sure. It is our first bad ride in such a long time but already we know we have to analyse this and really put things right in Cambridge."

Germany went on to win the final from Poland with world champions France, like New Zealand, finishing down the order.

It proved a day of mishaps for the New Zealand riders, with an inexperienced women's team pursuit combination on track for a sixth place in qualifying until two riders touched wheels and, after the resulting melee, they were unable to get back together. they finished 16th.

"It was good learnings for them but equally I was sorry for them," Cycling New Zealand head coach Dayle Cheatley said. "Their target was top eight to get two more rides, and they were sixth fastest at the time of the mistake."

It was better news for the young development men's team pursuit, who finished eighth after three exhausting rides, with two personal bests in the process. This was achieved without a reserve, after Shane Archbold withdrew on the day of departure due to illness.

The team, which included young riders Nick Kergozou and Luke Mudgway, were always going to struggle with the late withdrawal of Archbold, with three rides on the opening day.

They set a personal best 4:02.394s to be sixth fastest in qualifying and went under that again but lost to a sub-four minute ride from Denmark to put them in the ride-off with China for seventh and eighth.

The women's team sprint combination of Katie Schofield and Natasha Hansen were 11th.
Attention moves to the omnium competition tomorrow along with men's keirin and women's individual sprint.