It’s been another strong day for New Zealand's cyclists at the world championships in Scotland with a clean sweep of the junior women’s downhill leading the way.
Hutt Valley’s Erice van Leuven, 16, followed up her fastest time in qualifying with a golden performance, pipping Mt Maunganui 17-year-old Poppy Lane and Auckland’s Sacha Earnest, 17, who finished second and third, respectively.
The trio came out on top at the picturesque Nevis Range in northern Scotland as part of the Cycling World Championships being held in Glasgow.
“I can’t think of anything better, having all three girls from home here up on the podium; it's just a dream,'’ Earnest said.
“We joked about it weeks ago. For it to actually come true is insane,” Lane added.
After Earnest and Lane laid down solid runs to take the top two spots in the competition, they watched on as van Leuven turned around a slow start to power home in a time 5:15.613 – just over five seconds faster than her compatriots and well ahead of some of the other riders in the 29-strong field.
The trio then sat together and waited anxiously until the final rider’s time came in, confirming their sweep of the podium.
With the results sealed, celebrations quickly began as the trio embraced.
It makes it two junior women’s downhill world titles in a row for New Zealand after Rotorua’s Jenna Hastings won the junior women’s title last year.
In the junior men’s final, Luke Wayman of Christchurch was New Zealand’s best with a 23rd place finish.
Elsewhere, New Zealand qualified second-fastest for the women's team pursuit, just behind defending champions Great Britain with an impressive time of 4:11.777s.
A member of that quartet, Michaela Drummond, then won bronze in the women's scratch race in the evening programme.
Coach Paul Manning was delighted with the first-up effort from the combination that only came together this year.
“The ride was a great team performance, delivering what we have seen in training, under the pressure of competition,” said Manning.
“We had an early starting position in the competition, start so setting the standard and keeping focus to do the basics well gives them a great platform to take through to tomorrow.
“We have been a team for the last 12 months, but just haven’t seen it at worlds level, and from here ironing out form and team flow will allow us to push the limits going forwards.”
The men’s team pursuit will face Australia for bronze tomorrow after being pipped by rivals Italy in a bid for the gold medal race.
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