Wollaston wins omnium to take 2nd title

Ally Wollaston celebrates her win. Photo: Cycling NZ/supplied
Ally Wollaston celebrates her win. Photo: Cycling NZ/supplied
New Zealand star Ally Wollaston earned her second rainbow jersey after a brilliant victory in the four-discipline omnium at the world track championships in Denmark on Saturday.

The 23-year-old became the first New Zealand rider to win two titles at the same world track championships, after following her win in the elimination with the omnium triumph at the Ballerup Sports Arena in Copenhagen.

She joins fellow Kiwi riders Alison Shanks and Aaron Gate as double rainbow jersey winners on the track.

The men’s sprint trio of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins stand alone with three world championship titles, although Wollaston had the chance to join them with the points race overnight.

Wollaston was in imperious form in the omnium, starting watchfully with ninth place in the 7.5km scratch race, before topping the tempo race, winning 10 of the 26 sprints and gaining a lap on the field.

The Waikato professional repeated her dominance in the elimination, where she again showed superior speed and nous to claim a narrow lead in the overall competition.

Wollaston stayed calm as the attacks came in the pivotal 20km points race, where points are awarded for sprints every 10 laps and 20 bonus points for lapping the field.

Great Britain rider Jessica Roberts went solo to gain a lap and an eight-point lead but the New Zealander stayed with her plan, scoring points on six of the eight sprints including winning the double-points final sprint.

She impressed with her speed, strength and cycling intellect to finish on 131 points, 11 clear of Roberts with Norway’s Anita Stenberg third.

"As I was yesterday, I am blown away and still a little bit lost for words," Wollaston told Cycling NZ.

"I knew after yesterday that the form was there but to put it together on omnium day is a different story.

"I am just really happy with today’s performance . When Jess [Roberts] went for the lap, I was questioning whether I had it in the final. But I had to try to stay calm and back my last sprint.

"I started the day with not such a great scratch race but managed to back it up with a few good races after that."

Yesterday, New Zealand rider Bryony Botha claimed bronze in the individual pursuit on the penultimate day of competition.

The 26-year-old overcame Germany’s Franziska Brausse in the ride-off for third in the 3000m individual pursuit, adding to the silver medal she won in Paris in 2022 and bronze last year in Glasgow in the same event.

Botha qualified third fastest in 3min 19.446sec in her first ride in the championships, going through the midway point as the fastest rider before American Chloe Dygert stepped up the pace to set a world record of 3min 15.663sec to lead all qualifiers.

Brausse started strongly to lead through the first three laps in the bronze medal ride, before Botha powered into the lead.

She went through the 1000m in 1min 11.281sec and extended her lead each lap, finishing in 3min 21.086sec, to be over 3sec clear.

Dygert was upset in the final by British newcomer Anna Morris, who edged ahead five laps from the finish to claim the gold medal by just 0.3sec. — APL