New Zealand’s most experienced track cyclist Bryony Botha joined with relative newcomer Prue Fowler to claim a silver medal in the two-rider madison on day two of the UCI Track World Cup in Malaysia.
After their gold medal in the team pursuit on the first day, Botha and Fowler produced a strong performance in the two-rider madison event over 30kms with 120 laps where teams score points from sprints every 10 laps.
One rider must be in action throughout, with team swapping with a hand-sling motion.
The New Zealand pairing finished second to the Netherlands, scoring points on 10 of 12 sprints with four wins and were one of four teams to gain 20 bonus points for lapping the field.
Netherlands won the final double points sprint to seal the win on 66 points, with the kiwi combination equally dominant in second place 14 points behind the winners but 17 clear of third placed Switzerland.
It proved a remarkable response from the 23-year-old Fowler who had been ill following last week’s World Cup team pursuit win in Hong Kong.
With no reserve, the team changed tactics for the team pursuit in Malaysia, with Fowler in the unaccustomed role of starter and then pulling out after four laps with the remaining three riders completing their remarkable win in the final.
Fowler felt sufficiently recovered to join Botha for today’s madison competition, with the kiwi pairing riding strongly throughout.
“Hong Kong was exciting and a big step up for me in the Team Pursuit,” said Fowler. “But I came down with something and spent two days in bed.
“I gave what I could in the TP (Team Pursuit) and the girls finished it off nicely.
“I wasn’t sure how I would pull up in the madison today but the legs felt good, the lungs pulled through and set it up really nicely. We had to read the race at the end and came through for the podium, which was so pleasing.”
Earlier Keegan Hornblow finished an impressive fifth place in the four-event omnium, finishing third in the Scratch race, seventh in the Tempo and Elimination races and sixth in the final Points race.
Hornblow went into the Points race in second on 92 points but four riders earned bonus points for lapping the field. The kiwi rider won a sprint and picking up 14 sprint points to finish fifth on 106 points, just eight off the podium in the event won by Japan’s Naoki Kojima.
Sam Dakin finished second in his repechage of the men’s keirin competition to move to the second round. He drew world champion Harrie Lavreysen and ultimate winner Aliz Awang in his second round, and was eliminated in the resulting repechage in a much-improved performance.
Sprinter Olivia King qualified 11th fastest in the women’s sprint in 10.597s, beating Cho Yiu Yeung (HGK) in the first round but was eliminated by Iana Burlakova in the second round in a photo-finish.
Tomorrow’s final day will include Dakin in the sprint, King in the keirin, Samantha Donnelly in the omnium and George Jackson with Tom Sexton in the madison.
