Three medals on the final day brought the Cycling New Zealand tally to 11 as the curtain came down on a unique Commonwealth Games campaign in Glasgow.
Fittingly the medals came from riders out of men’s endurance, women’s sprint and Para cycling to highlight the complete team performance and embrace Para cycling, sprint and endurance riders in the Cycling New Zealand programme.
The final day of racing brought an outstanding silver medal to Ellesse Andrews in the keirin, Devon Briggs added another to his haul with bronze in the Men’s C1-C3 category 3000m individual pursuit, and finished with a bronze medal to the redoubtable George Jackson in the 40km points race.
“Overall, it has been a successful campaign as we build towards LA 2028,” said Cycling New Zealand High Performance Director, Ryan Hollows.
“The medals came across all of our squads and it was great to have Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling in a combined event.
“There has been amazing public support here which has made it a unique and memorable experience. Our coaches and support team have worked so hard, and the riders have grown as the competition moved on.
“Now we pack down, and our riders will get a very short break before we turn our attentions to the Road and Para Cycling Road World Championships, the Track World Championships where the Olympic qualifying will start, and the Para Track World Championships.”
Briggs completed a superb campaign with a bronze medal in the men’s C1-3 3000m individual pursuit, qualifying in a record 3:25.889 effort which was only 0.2s off earning a place in the gold medal ride.
It completed an outstanding campaign for the Cambridge rider who claimed a gold and a bronze medal in Glasgow.
Andrews got stronger as her campaign continued, finishing with an excellent silver medal in the keirin final. She made a strong start but got boxed in coming into the final straight. She was able to follow Emma Finucane and blasted into space to earn the silver behind the Welsh rider.
Teammate Oliver King just missed out on the final but won the race for 7-12 placings in an impressive ride.
Waikato’s Nicole Murray just missed out on a medal in the women’s C4-5 1000m time trial, qualifying fifth. She set a national record 1:12.653 in the final to come within 0.3s of the bronze medal.
The men’s 40km points race was a typically exciting affair, with Jackson starting with winning the first sprint, with teammates Tom Sexton and Keegan Hornblow also getting into contention late in the race.
While British rider Oliver Bleddyn and Australian Oliver Bleddyn fought out for the gold, Sexton set up the charge on the last lap for Jackson to come over the top to gain the crucial double points final sprint to claim the bronze medal.
There were other close calls with Ally Wollaston edged out in a photo-finish sprint with a medal chance looming in the elimination race but will need to wait for the upcoming world championships for another opportunity.
George Jackson on his way to bronze in the Men's 40km Point Race (SWpix)