New Zealand cyclist Aaron Gate has won silver in the men's omnium at the track cycling world championships at Roubaix, France.
A win for Gate would have seen New Zealand become the most successful omnium nation in history, but the 2017 world champion came home second, behind Great Britain's Ethan Hayter.
The silver medal is Gate's third in the omnium event, after also winning silver in 2013.
The 30-year-old entered the final event - the points race - a close second behind Hayter, but the 23-year-old Brit dominated the race, claiming several sprint wins to claim victory by 54 points.
The result also marked a successful comeback from Olympic disaster, when he crashed during the team pursuit semi-finals.
"I came into this not knowing how the track form was and I only had couple of days on the track here in Roubaix before racing," says Gate. "The podium was definitely a goal, but I didn’t know if it was achievable or not, until I started racing.
"The scratch race went pretty well and set the tone, and I progressed from there. I didn’t have the legs in the points race that I would have liked, but at the same time, at the halfway mark, I knew I was racing for second.
"Hayter was in a class of his own today, so I have to be pretty happy with that. I guess it is some redemption, so to speak.
"Izu still hurts, because it was a team event and I didn’t get a chance to stand up there with my teammates, but this is a bit of silver lining. I have some texts from the boys already and look forward to catching up with them."
Meanwhile, fellow Kiwis Michaela Drummond and Ally Wollaston finished ninth in the women's madison.
