Feilding's Jesse Sergent qualified top then went on to secure a silver medal behind American defending champion Taylor Phinney in the 4000m individual pursuit in Copenhagen, Denmark.
And the women's trio of Alison Shanks, Lauren Ellis and Rushlee Buchanan bounced back from a mixed qualifying ride to lower the world record in winning a bronze medal over the United States in the 3000m team pursuit.
Teenager Sam Webster, a triple world junior champion last year, also showed a glimpse of his potential to make the final and finish sixth in the men's keirin won by Olympic champion Chris Hoy, of Britain.
"It was a remarkable day for the team and the programme," BikeNZ high performance manager Mark Elliott said.
"They put the work in and showed real fortitude. Jesse still had memories of his disappointment from last year and it took real fortitude from Ali to climb back after missing a medal yesterday."
Otago rider Shanks and coach Craig Palmer were at a loss to explain why the star had produced a below-par performance in the individual pursuit on Thursday.
"To tell you the truth, Craig and I don't actually know what went wrong," Shanks said.
"Training had been going really well leading in. The thing is with individual pursuit you're out there on your own and, if you are having a bad day, it is there for the world to see. You can't hide anywhere."
The individual pursuit was cut from the Olympic programme late last year. It was a devastating blow to Shanks, who had been hoping to emulate Sarah Ulmer's gold medal feat at the Athens Olympics.
Rather than lose focus, Shanks said it had made her hungrier for success. While an Olympic pursuit individual medal is out of the question, a medal in the team pursuit at the London Games is a real prospect.
Rising star Sergent could also be a genuine medal contender in London in 2012.
Sergent topped qualifiers in his event when clocking 4min 15.988sec to become the first New Zealanders to go under 4min 16sec.
The 21-year-old was not able to back it up in the ride for the gold medal where Phinney retained his rainbow jersey in 4min 16.600sec with Sergent 2sec back.
The two finalists will head to the US after the championships where they are team-mates on the professional Trek Livestrong under-23 development squad.
It was a huge performance from Sergent, who was keen to make amends for his fifth placing last year in Poland.
Aucklander Webster and Simon Van Velthooven, of Palmerston North, made their mark in the keirin competition with Webster qualifying for the final after finishing third in his semifinal behind Hoy. Van Velthooven was fourth in his semifinal and went on to finish ninth overall.
Tom Scully finished seventh in the 15km scratch race.
