Waimate teenager Dylan Kennett made a remarkable recovery to grab a bronze medal in the gruelling two-day omnium to spark the BikeNZ team on day three of the UCI Junior World Track Cycling Championships in Moscow today.
Kennett seemed down and out after he got squeezed in an aggressive elimination race to end the first day of the six-discipline Omnium in a distance ninth place at the Moscow Velodrome. However he lifted splendidly today to finish third in a fighting display.
It sparked another excellent day for the BikeNZ team with three medals, highlighted by a silver medal to Auckland sprinter Stephanie McKenzie in the women’s sprint.
Wanganui’s Cassie Cameron, fourth in the team pursuit yesterday, produced an intelligent display to finish third in the 10km scratch race final.
It brought New Zealand’s tally to six medals in three days with two days remaining.
McKenzie earned her second medal of the championships after winning the bronze with Paige Patterson in the team sprint.
She had done her homework to dominate home country rider Tamara Balabolina in the semifinal in two straight rides to move into the final. McKenzie came up against the top ranked Russian Anastasiya Voynova in the gold medal ride but buoyed with strong local support, the local rider had the edge to win in two straight rides.
It’s Mckenzie’s third medal after pairing with Henrietta Mitchell to win silver in the team sprint in Italy last year.
“I definitely felt more confident this year after riding last year,” McKenzie said. “I was the last rider off in the qualifying which was good for your confidence too.”
The big track, at 333m and massive banking, was built to suit the Russian sprinters for the Moscow Olympics and remains one of the fastest in the world but presents some challenges for riders who usually race on a 250m track.
“It is huge for sure and the banking is quite steep. It was a bit weird because it is just two laps for sprints not three like usual. But the key for me was to watch the others in the races beforehand and see how they rode.”
Kennett, who won the flying lap and was eighth in the points yesterday, had seemingly dropped out of medal contention when he was 19th in an extremely aggressive elimination race.
But the teenager said he was buoyed by the support he received.
“I had to give it everything today. I was pretty disappointed for sure but everyone was so supportive from the rest of the team and coaches to the parents that are here. There was not one negative comment made. It was all mental for me today.”
Kennett was second in the individual pursuit to move up to fifth overall, and then produced a stunning effort to win the scratch race to move to third overall.
He saved his best until last to win the 1000m time trial in a superb 1:04.01 to claim the bronze. His time was only 25/100ths of a second slower than the gold medal effort in the individual kilo contest.
“I knew I was the fastest after I won the flying lap and was second in the pursuit. I told my parents on the phone last night I would do it.”
As a first year junior, Kennett is fired up about next year when the world championships will be staged at Invercargill.
“I know if I can improve my bunch riding then I can do really well. With the worlds in Invercargill will be massive for us and I am sure I will get lots of support there.”
Cameron was another who wanted to bounce back after she was edged into fourth place as part of the team pursuit yesterday.
She rode a well controlled race on the big Moscow track, covering breaks and moving into good position to grab the third place in the 10km scratch race final, won by Russian Kseniya Dobrynina.
The Wanganui rider said she had to adjust to the big track.
“Not only is it big, the banking is high and there’s lots more room to move around and therefore you are less likely to be boxed in here,” Cameron said.
“I don’t know why but the bunch spent most of the time riding above the blue line so we were made to do more work. I tried to position myself as low as possible to save energy and keep in touch. I moved up with six laps to go and managed to get into a good position or the final sprint.
“That was really pleasing. There’s no way I wanted to come away without a medal after the team pursuit.”
Alexandra’s Sophie Williamson is in ninth place after the first day of the women’s omnium. She was eighth in the flying lap, 10th in the points race and a solid fourth in the elimination race with Australia’s Taylah Jennings well clear after three wins from the three events today.
Results, day 3 New Zealand placings:
Women sprint, gold medal ride: Stephanie McKenzie (NZL) lost to Anastasiya Voynova (RUS) 2-0. Semifinal: Mckenzie beat Tamara Balabolina (RUS) 2-0. Voynova bt Victoria Williamson (GBR) 2-0. Bronze ride: Williamson bt Balabolina 2-0.
Men Omnium, day 2, 3000m individual pursuit: Roman Ivlev (RUS) 3:21:905, 1; Dylan Kennett (NZL) 3:24:434, 2; Caleb Ewan (AUS) 3:24:851, 3.
Scratch race: Kennett 1, Thomas Boudat (FRA) 2, Takuya Takushi (JPN) 3.
1000m time trial: Kennett 1:04.101, 1; Ivlev 1:04.419, 2; Ondrej Rybin (CZE) 1:04.702, 3.
Overall points: Caleb Ewan (AUS) 24 points, 1; Ivlev 29, 2; Kennett 32, 3.
Women Omnium, day 1:
Flying lap: Taylah Jennings (AUS) 12.15, 1; Alina Bondarenko (RUS) 2, Sujeong Jeong (KOR) 3. Also: Sophie Williamson (NZL) 13.081, 8.
Points race, 20km: Jennings 16 points, 1; Chiara Vannucci (ITA) 11, 2; Bondarenko 7, 3. Also: Williamson, 0 points, 10.
Elimination: Jennings 1, Bondarenko 2, Vannucci 3, Williamson 4.
Points after day 1: Jennings 3, 1; Boncarenko 7, 2; Ingrid Drexler (MEX) 16, 3. Also: Williamson 22, 9.
Scratch race, 7.5km: Jennifer Valente (USA) 1, Georgia Baker (AUS) 2, Cassie Cameron (NZL) 3.
IAN HEPENSTALL
Media Liaison, BikeNZ High Performance
Sports Media NZ Ltd
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