New Zealand women win back-to-back gold at UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Malaysia

New Zealand’s women’s team pursuit squad has claimed back-to-back gold medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Nilai, Malaysia — and they did it without their star rider and with one athlete competing through illness.

Bryony Botha, Samantha Donnelly, Prudence Fowler, and Emily Shearman topped the qualifying session with a time of 4 minutes 16.917 seconds before going on to defeat the Netherlands in the first round and China in the gold medal final. The margin over China was nearly two seconds — a decisive victory that underlined just how far this New Zealand squad has come as a cohesive unit.

The win came on ANZAC Day and follows a gold medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong just a week earlier, making it two World Cup victories in a fortnight for a group of athletes performing well above expectations.

What makes this particular gold stand out is the adversity the team had to navigate. Star performer Ally Wollaston was unavailable, having returned to her professional road racing commitments in Europe. On top of that, Fowler was battling illness throughout the early part of the week, leaving the team to rethink how they would structure their race.

The solution was to adjust Fowler’s role significantly. Normally not the team’s starter, Fowler rode the opening three or four laps of the four-kilometre team pursuit before pulling off, leaving Botha, Donnelly, and Shearman to carry the load through the final twelve laps. It was an unconventional approach born out of necessity, but it worked.

Botha spoke to RNZ Sport after the race and described a group that had found a way to compete effectively despite the disruptions.

“We had to be quite adaptable with Pru not feeling super-good throughout the first part of the week,” Botha said. “We changed our strategy with Pru doing the first three or four laps of the TP, and the rest of us taking it from there. It went well considering Pru is not our usual first-wheel starter, and we did not have Ally with us either.”

Botha added that the team had deliberately lowered their expectations heading into the event. “With only four riders, we had to make do with what we had in the situation. We were actually quite surprised. We went into it with no expectations on ourselves and just wanted to do a ride that we were proud of — and I think we can definitely be proud.”

That mindset — entering a major international event without the weight of expectation, simply focused on executing well — produced something genuinely impressive. The four women beat the Netherlands in the first round with a time of 4 minutes 10.857 seconds, the fastest of that round, before going on to take gold against China in a race they controlled from the midpoint onwards.

The two teams were level at the 1000-metre mark, a point in the race where the outcome was still entirely open. From there, New Zealand built a slim lead through the middle of the race and then powered clear in the final kilometre, putting the result beyond doubt and confirming a gold medal that reflected both their technical ability and their resilience under pressure.

The team pursuit is one of the most demanding disciplines in track cycling. Four riders must work in perfect rotation, each taking turns at the front before swinging out and rejoining at the back. The aerodynamic demands are severe, and any disruption to rhythm or formation can bleed precious seconds. That this New Zealand squad could execute such a ride with an adapted strategy — accounting for Fowler’s illness and Wollaston’s absence — speaks to how deeply the riders trust each other and how well-prepared they are as a unit.

Elsewhere at the same event, New Zealand’s men’s team pursuit squad also topped the qualifying session with a time of 3 minutes 51.722 seconds, though they were upset by France in the first round. Keegan Hornblow was edged out in a sprint for a podium position in his individual event. Strong qualifying performances across the board suggest that New Zealand’s track programme is in good shape heading into the bigger events later in the year.

New Zealand has a proud tradition in track cycling, and results like this at World Cup level feed directly into preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and ultimately the World Championships. Performances that come without fanfare, from under-strength squads racing on the other side of the world, often tell you more about a programme’s depth than anything achieved under the spotlight back home.

For Botha, Donnelly, Fowler, and Shearman, ANZAC Day 2026 in Nilai, Malaysia will be a date worth remembering. They set out to do a ride they could be proud of and came home with gold.

If you have thoughts on this result or on New Zealand’s track cycling programme more broadly, share them in the comments below.