Sam Dakin reasserted his place at the best sprinter – in the absence of another Sam (Webster) – on day two of the Cycling New Zealand Track National Championships at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge.
The Tokyo Olympian topped qualifiers with a 9.865s effort for the flying 200m at an average speed of 73kph, which was only 0.1s off the national record.
He cruised through the match-racing rounds before a ride-over against an injured Bradly Knipe in the final, while the super-versatile Nick Kergozou (Southland) claimed the bronze.
“The nationals are a stepping stone to the Oceania Championships coming up. We haven’t been able to race for quite a while and our points situation is pretty dire, so today was about getting the race plan back in and following the processes,” said Dakin.
“It is great to be back racing and really looking forward to Occies and to get back racing at that level in my favourite event of the keirin and to race against our Aussie buddies.”
The women’s sprint saw Waikato Bay of Plenty’s Olivia King finish top in qualifying with a personal-best 11.110s and her form through the match racing was ultra-consistent, beating Southland’s Nicole Marshall in two straight rides in the final.
Wellington’s George Jackson was all-class in dominating the elite men’s points race, taking control early in the 30km event, covering the breaks to win with 51 points from Carne Groube (WCNI) 38 and Kiaan Watts (Waikato BOP) 35. The trio along with Daniel Bridgwater (Waikato BOP) put a lap on the rest of the field early in the ace, with Jackson winning four of the first seven sprints to open a telling advantage.
Bryony Botha continued on her winning ways, accounting for a young field in the elite women’s elimination.
Tokyo Paralympian Nicole Murray was in excellent form to win the 3000m individual pursuit, qualifying in 3:44.817 and dipping under that in the final of the C1-C5 classification.
“It was an exciting day today,” said Murray who was having her first competition since the Tokyo Paralympics, with her next aim being the upcoming Oceania Championships.
“I would like to PB the individual pursuit there and to progress in all my races there.”
In Para-cycling action, Auckland’s Cameron Davies lowered his qualifying time to take the men’s C1-3 category 3000m individual pursuit, locking 4:32.650.
There were further strong performances in the C4-5 with Waikato BOP’s Devon Briggs clipping more than three seconds off his qualifying effort from the start of the evening session, winning gold in an adjusted 4:50.961 from Ben Westenburg (Waikato BOP) and Nick Blincoe (Auckland).
In under-19 racing, Southland’s Ciara Kelly claimed the keirin title in two straight rides over Pearl Harris-Blain, while at the other end of the spectrum, the brilliant Canterbury prospect Amelia Sykes won the Points race with 32 points ahead of rival Seana Gray (Waikato BOP) 28.
The Under-19 10km scratch title went to Oliver Watson-Palmer (Waikato BOP) after holding off Jaxson Whyte (Mid South Canterbury) and Lewis Johnston (Waikato BOP) in the sprint finish.
Auckland’s Joel Douglas claimed the elimination race over a tiring Maui Morrison (Waikato BOP) in an aggressively-paced event, while Ronan Shearing claimed the keirin final over the Waikato BOP pair of Liam Cavanagh and Jaxson Russell.
In Under-17 action, Auckland’s Nate Boness was fastest in qualifying in 11.234s and went on to win the final over Canterbury’s Wolf Pene in two rides.
Millie Wright held off her Waikato BOP teammate Piper Russell in the Under-17 girls’ scratch race over 5kms, while Canterbury’s Matthew Davidson won the boys’ final over 75km over Kane Foster (Waikato BOP).
In Under-15 action Canterbury’s Shaylah Sayers continued her unbeaten run in winning the Points race after claiming third in the final sprint, while Ben Murphy (WCNI) was fourth in the final sprint which was enough to give him a narrow win in the boys’ Points race.
The third of the championship includes sprints and Points races for under-15 and under-17 riders, women’s individual pursuit and Para-cycling time trial in the afternoon with the night session featuring men individual pursuit and Para-cycling time trial.
The championships finish on Saturday.
Credit: Cullen Browne - Cycling New Zealand
Details: www.tracknationals.nz