Just a single point separated Manawatu rider Emily Shearman in in the omnium battle with endurance teammates on day four of the Cycling New Zealand National Championships at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge.
Shearman edged team leader Bryony Botha by a single point in an exciting contest in the four-discipline omnium which comprises combined totals in scratch, tempo, elimination, and points races.
The scratch race went to Shearman in the final sprint over Botha, who reversed the result in the tempo race, where the leader each lap earns a point.
Botha won the final sprint to claim the exciting elimination over Shearman, where the last rider is eliminated every second lap, giving her a two point lead going into the points race. The deciding discipline offers points for sprints every 10 laps and 20 bonus points for lapping the field, achieved by Shearman, Botha, and endurance national squad teammate Sami Donnelly from Canterbury.
The dynamic duo shared three sprints each going into the final double-points battle where Shearman prevailed to finish on 171 points, with Botha a single point back in second and Donnelly third.
The junior omnium went to Meg Baker from Canterbury on 130 points, narrowly ahead of clubmates Sophie Maxwell and Mya Wolfenden.
Baker won the scratch race and elimination, was second in the tempo and accumulated 12 points in the Points race to finish on 130. She was just six points clear of Maxwell, who won two sprints and had three third places, while Wolfenden was a further three points back after winning the final double-points sprint.
The elite men competed in the two-rider madison with the 30km, 120 lap elite race won by the MitoQ pairing on Bailey O’Donnell and Marshall Erwood, both from Southland. They won five of the 12 sprints including the double-point final dash, along with two seconds, three thirds and a fourth in a dominate display.
The Te Awamutu club pair of Magnus Jamieson and Kane Foster was second just ahead of the Pista Corsa Navy duo of Matthew Davis and Maui Morrison.
Meanwhile the Para cycling action focused in individual time trials. The 2022 world championship bronze medallist in the 500m time trial, Anny Taylor, claimed the C4 honours in a slick 38.748s, with Siobhan Terry clocking 41.241s, while Unity Collins clocked 1:23.020 in the Para B 1000m time trial.
The Para men also competed over 1000m timed test. In C4 action ben Westenberg clocked 1:09.598 to finish ahead of Nick Blincoe and Lindsay File. Devon Briggs was impressive in claiming the C3 time trial in 1:05.760 ahead of Thomas Szabo and Matthew Kennedy.
The Championships finish on Thursday.