Cyclists on the hunt for medals

In the women's team pursuit, the New Zealand team - Bryony Botha, Sami Donnelly, Pru Fowler and Ally Wollaston - qualified with room to spare for the final. In the qualifying round their time of 4min 13.698s was 0.229s behind the fastest qualifiers, Australia, and those teams will race for gold.

The men's team pursuiters - Marshall Erwood, George Jackson, Daniel Morton and Tom Sexton - were riding for a medal and also for their injured team-mate Nick Kergozou, who is in hospital after sustaning a back injury during a training accident a few days ago.

The men's pursuiters missed out on the final and will race against Wales for the bronze. The Australians were the fastest in the qualifying round with 3min 48.777s and England were second. New Zealand's effort trailed off slightly in the later stages of their qualifying race, though their time was still an impressve 3min 53.383s. They'll be looking to go quicker in the bronze medal race.

After the race, Sexton said the team's performance was good considering the big training crash and the consequences. 'It was the worst thing that could have happened, and so close to the race. We all feel for Nick and are thinking of him. He's been sending us messages of support and encouragement. Considering all that, it was quite a good performance out there.'

Emma Foy and pilot Jessie Hodges moved impressively into the women's para tandem sprint final. They qualifed fourth with a ride of 11.223s and looked sharper in their semi-final against Elizabeth Jordan of England, winning both races convincingly.

Foy and Hodges were pleased with how they handled their qualifying and semi-final rides, but wary of the Australian pair they'll meet in the final. 'We're stoked with how we rode, but we're up against a confident and experienced team in the final,' Foy said. Hodges agreed: 'They're quick and aggressive. We have to ride as best we can and see what happens.'

Nicole Murray just missed a place in the women's C4-C5 para individual pursuit final. She clocked 5min 06.878s in her quaiifying ride. This left her behind Australian Tara Neyland, who was well clear, and Englishwoman Morgan Newberry, whose time of 5min 06.470s just edged out the New Zealander for a place in the final.

The one surprising note of the day for New Zealand hopes was the failure of the sprint trio of Ellesse Andrews, Rebecca Petch and Olivia King to quailfy for the team final. They were regarded as strong medal contenders but could manage a time of just 47.852s in their qualifying ride, which left them as the slowest of the five teams and not even riding for a bronze medal.

'We did what we could, but we're disappointed with the result,' Andrews said. 'There are pieces out there we can pull together, but we're going to need a bit more time.'