A super-exciting elite men’s points race brought the curtain down on an exciting week of racing at the National Track Championships at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge.

While the high performance squad showed their skills, the emerging talent, both in elite and under-19, displayed the form to give considerable confidence for the next bunch of emerging internationals.

None more so than the elite men’s points race over 30kms, with four riders in contention for the overall victory going into the final double-points sprint. Oliver Watson-Palmer led by one point from Edward Pawson with Kyle Aitkin a further three points behind.

Southland’s Hayden Strong prevailed in a fierce final sprint to claim the 10 points and move to fourth overall, while Watson-Palmer managed fourth to finish on 25 points, matched by Aitkin who was second.

But Pawson’s second placing in the desperate sprint was enough for him to win by a single point in an exciting contest.

The women’s points race was contrasted with US-bound professional, Rylee McMullen dominating completely, winning every sprint to finish on 65 points, clear of Hannah Bayard and Georgia Simpson. McMullen, a well performed pro continental road rider, is joining the Denver Disruptors pro team in the US criterium circuit, the same team as kiwi mountain biker, Ben Oliver.

In under-19 action, the team sprint victories went to the composite team of junior internationals in Auckland’s Jodie Blackwood with the Southland pair of Riley Faulker and Caitlin Kelly. Their time of 50.771 bettered the New Zealand Championship mark and the allcomers record.

The men’s team sprint went to the Te Awamutu combination of Flynn Underwood, Alex Schuler and Tom Choi in 46.462, which bettered the championship record set in 2016.

The under-19 elimination titles went to Meg Baker ahead of Erin Green and Kirsty Watts in the females and Magnus Jamieson from Lucas Bhimy and Bernard Pawson in the males.