Th BikeNZ men's pursuit team, made up of mostly development riders, claim Silver in Beijing! Credit: Champion SYstem.

The fourth and last UCI Track World Cup for the 2009- 2010 season in Beijing was the last chance for BikeNZ track riders to test themselves against the World's best before the UCI World Track Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark 24-28 March 2010.

World Champion Alison Shanks takes out Gold in Beijing. Credit Champion System.

World champion Alison Shanks comfortably took out the gold medal in the individual pursuit on the opening night of finals at the UCI World Cup in Beijing. Shanks dominated the final over Lithuania's Vilija Sereikaite, clocking 3:33.360 which is her third fastest time ever on the track built for the 2008 Olympics. The Dunedin rider averaged over 50 kph in a well controlled performance. The result moves Shanks to second overall on the world cup standings as she prepares to defend her title at the world championships in Copenhagen in March.

   Southland Teenage Star Tom Scully wins three more medal in Beijing, inlcuding a Bronze in the Madison with Myron Simpson. Credit: Champion System.

Outstanding Southland prospect Tom Scully was also in the medals, claiming bronze in the final of the men's points race.  He rode aggressively in the 30km final, part of a seven-strong break that put a lap on the field. Scully filled in for Hayden Godfrey in the Men's Team Pursuit team in their ride-off for Bronze. He then completed an outstanding meet with his third medal when he paired with fellow national champion team-mate Simpson (Auckland) to take bronze in the 40km Madison.

The pair cruised to win their qualifying heat earlier in the day and were the most consistent pairing in the final, gaining points on six of the eight sprints.

The BikeNZ Men's Pusuit team ride to Bronzed against Ukraine. Credit: Champion System.

The development combination of Hayden Godfrey, Shane Archbold, Myron Simpson and Aaron Gate claimed the bronze medal in an outstanding performance for the development squad.

Hayden Godfrey (Christchurch), the 2008 world omnium champion, followed with a silver medal in the men's scratch race over 15kms. Godfrey recovered from his pursuit final to produce a strong effort to win silver. The Canterbury rider was just edged by Canada's Zachery Bell in the final sprint for the gold.

Big Southland sprinter Eddie Dawkins produced a golden finish for the New Zealand cycling team on the final night of the UCI World Cup in Beijing. Dawkins took out the gold medal in the men's sprint, producing an emphatic display to win his quarterfinal, semifinal and final all in two straight rides for an unbeaten run at the Olympic velodrome. The icing on the cake of a very succesful cmapign for a mostly development BikeNZ team came with the gold medal to Dawkins who produced a mixture of power, speed and outstanding tactics. Dawkins was impressive in accounting for Maximillian Levy (FRA) in the semifinal, again in two straight races (from a possible three)) before dominating the final against another Frenchman, Michael D'Almeida, the second qualifier, in two rides.

The BikeNZ Women's Pusuit team take Silver. Credit: Champion System.

The women's combination of world champion Alison Shanks, Lauren Ellis and Rushlee Buchanan topped the qualifiers with a sharp 3:25.727 from Australia's 3:26.218 to move into the gold medal ride. Cambridge rider Jaime Nielsen provided the fresh legs for the gold medal ride along with Ellis and Shanks with the New Zealand's locked in a battle against the Australian combination who qualified for their first World Cup final.The kiwis found themselves 1.3 seconds down after a flying first kilo by the Australians and while the New Zealanders came back with faster times over the second and third kilometres they could not bridge the gap.

While New Zealand clocked a best time of 3:23.747, faster than their silver medal effort in last year's world championships, they finished 0.9s behind the Australians who recorded an outstanding 3:22.879, only fractionally outside Great Britain's winning time at the worlds.

The squad returns to New Zealand with riders to prepare for the Elite National Track Championships in Invercargill next month, which double as the Commonwealth Games Trials.

More Photos can be viewed @ http://www.ridestrong.org.nz/RS/groups/high_performance_supporters/default.aspx