Aussie men sweep omnium at Oceania cycling

Australia have dominated the men's omnium at the Oceania track cycling championships in New Zealand, while Racquel Sheath has led a Kiwi sweep in the women's.

Josh Harrison, Leigh Howard and Benjamin Harvey have made it an Australian one-two-three in the men's omnium at the Oceania track cycling championships at Cambridge in New Zealand.

Harrison, who had won the tempo race, was sitting third going into the final event - the points race.

With the title on the line, he showed plenty of aggression to head off Howard and Harvey, with all three putting a lap on the field.

Racquel Sheath, Rushlee Buchanan and Michaela Drummond replicated the feat for New Zealand in the women's omnium, sharing the podium on Wednesday night.

Sheath took out two of the four events on her way to her overall victory, which also cemented an omnium spot for New Zealand at February's world championships.

"The key was racing smart, being on to it and trying to preserve as much energy as I could in those earlier races in the day," she said.

"To get my teammates in second and third is a bit of an ego boost for us."

Sheath, Buchanan and Drummond are part of the New Zealand endurance team flying out at the weekend for back-to-back World Cup competitions in Canada and Chile.

New Zealander Sam Webster has defended his men's sprint title, beating compatriot and best mate Ethan Mitchell 2-0 in the final.

In the semi-finals, Mitchell had downed top-seeded Australian Matthew Glaetzer, who had broken the New Zealand all-comers record in qualifying.

He prevailed in two straight rides, coming from behind both times.

Webster, in his first major competition of the season, also needed just two rides to get past Australian Jacob Schmid.

Coach Anthony Peden said Webster and Mitchell had come out fired up for the home crowd on Wednesday's second last night of racing.

"The Australians came here in fantastic form," he said.

"But we've put together some world-class performances on the track over the last three days, so I'm pretty happy."

Peden said the Australians had done better in qualifying, but Webster and Mitchell were tactically astute in their semi-finals, while Webster was dominant in the title decider.

"Sam was very classy in the final and took Ethan to school really."


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