Cycling: Archibald claims bronze with NZ record time

Kiwi cyclist Matthew Archibald. Photo / Getty Images

Southland sprinter Matt Archibald cemented a break-out season with his first world championship medal on the third day of the track cycling world championships near Paris.

The 28-year-old earned bronze in the 1000m time trial - matching his result from last year's Commonwealth Games - and he set the fastest time at sea level by a Kiwi in the process.

It was New Zealand's fourth medal at the world championships, a tally which came agonisingly close to increasing when teenager Regan Gough missed a medal in the 40km points race on a countback.

Archibald produced a stunning start on his way to clocking 1:00.470, a time that stood until the final two rides when German Joachim Eilers edged the Kiwi by 18/100ths of a second before world record-holding Frenchman Francois Pervis snuck home in 1:00.207.

Archibald has been the nearly-man in the sprint squad but his improving performances will ensure the rest of the squad cannot rest on their laurels.

"I felt like I have made some massive improvements in training with the help of Damien (Wise) and Anthony (Peden)," Archibald said. "I was confident I could do a pretty good time.

"To put it into perspective, I am part of a world-performing team. Now to have a world medal to go with a commonwealth medal, I feel like I am doing the team justice."

Gough, a double junior world champion last year, was added to the team mostly for experience. That changed when endurance coach Tim Carswell brought him into the gold medal-winning team pursuit squad and today he backed up with a brilliant debut in the points race.

He joined two riders who slipped away mid-race to put a lap on the field and climbed to the top of the table with 40 laps remaining after winning a sprint. It came down to the final sprint but the 18-year-old had run out of fuel, with German Maximilian Beyer finishing just ahead to nab the bronze medal on countback.

"The legs were not too good for the first 80-odd laps and the surges took it out of me," Gough said. "I knew the German was close and saw he was only 20 metres up the track. I gave it everything I had in the last four laps but there was just not enough gas in the tank."

Elsewhere on day three, 2013 world champion Aaron Gate sits in seventh place after the opening day of the six-event omnium. The Auckland rider was fourth in the scratch race, 11th in the 4000m individual pursuit and seventh in the elimination.

Stephanie McKenzie set a qualifying time of 11.155s in the women's sprint to secured passage through to the elimination round, where she was knocked out by Chinese sprinter Shuang Guo.

Tomorrow's penultimate day features Gate and Racquel Sheath in action in the omnium, Eddie Dawkins and Sam Webster in the sprint, Marc Ryan and Dylan Kennett in the individual pursuit and Rushlee Buchannan in the scratch race.

Results from day three of the cycling world championships near Paris:

Men 1000m time trial: Francois Pervis (FRA) 1:00.207, 1; Joachim Eilers (GER) 1:00.294, 2; Matt Archibald (NZL) 1:00.470, 3. Also: Simon van Velthooven (NZL0 1:01.157, 9.

Men omnium, 15km scratch race: Elia Viviani (ITA), 1; Jonathan Dibben (GBR) 2, Fernando Gaviria (COL) 3. Also: Aaron Gate (NZL) 4. 4000m individual pursuit: Glenn O'Shea (AUS) 4:20.807, 1; Gaviria 4:23.567, 2; Viktor Manakov (RUS) 4:24.025, 3. Also: Gate 4:27.382, 11. Elimination: Viviani 1, Thomas Boudat (FRA) 2, Gaviria 3.

Points after three rounds: Gaviria 110, 1; Viviani 102, 2; Boudat 94 and Jasper de Buyst (BEL) 94, equal 3. Also: Gate: 78, 7.

Women sprint, qualifying: Tianshi Zhong (CHN) 10.627, 1; Elis Ligtlee (NED) 10.732, 2; Stephanie Morton (AUS) 10.754, 3. Also: Stephanie McKenzie (NZL) 11.155, 20. First round: Shuang Guo (CHN) bt McKenzie.

Women 3000m individual pursuit: Rebecca Wiasak (AUS) 3:27.018, 1; Jennifer Valente (USA) 3:29.547, 2; Amy Cure (AUS) 3:29.794, 3. Also: Jaime Nielsen (NZL) 3:34.938, 7; Georgia Williams (NZL) 3:38.731, 11.

Men 40km points race: Artur Ershov (RUS) 31 points, 1; Eloy Teruel Rovira (ESP) 30, 2; Maximilian Beyer (GER) 29, 3. Also: Regan Gough 29 points, 4 (on countback).