by Justin Davis

American Taylor Phinney dominated New Zealand’s Jesse Sergent to successfully defend his individual pursuit title here at the world track championships on Thursday.

Phinney, who is the son of former Olympic cycling champions, clocked a winning time of 4min 16.600sec for the 4km, 16-lap event to beat Sergent comfortably.

The 22-year-old Kiwi, part of the Under-23 Trek/Livestrong development team run by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong along with Phinney, clocked a time of 4:18.459.

Phinney, 20, is considered a big talent for the future in both road and track cycling, but despite the individual pursuit being knocked off the Olympic programme he fully intends on focusing on the event in a bid to try and break Chris Boardman’s 14-year-old world record of 4:11.114 – a time that was set with a ‘Superman’ position that is now banned by cycling authorities.

“It feels relieving. I did a lot of training specifically for this race, so it is great to be able to go for the double and come away with it,” said Phinney of his second pursuit world title. “My main goal is the world record and I don’t think I’m going to stop pursuiting until I get there. Sunday I have the omnium; that’s the next focus on the track for the Olympics.”

“I’m going to have to work hard over the next couple of years if I want to beat it, but I’m not giving up this event until I do,” said Phinney.

“I came here to win, so it’s really a relief. I put a lot of effort into this race. This is a fast track, and we saw some fast times.

“I wanted to go out and go better than 4:16, but it wasn’t going to happen.”

Sergent admitted the disappointment he felt was softened by the fact Phinney is a close friend, as well as a teammate.

“Obviously I’m disappointed, but Taylor is a good friend of mine so it’s not as bad,” Sergent told Bicycle.net.

Despite being slightly behind Phinney in the race’s early stages, Sergent admitted he really began to struggle at the midway stage, by which point he was trailing by six tenths.

“I kind of fell of the pace midway through, after that I was walking the line to Taylor.”

Australian Jack Bobridge, who won bronze, had signaled his worlds intentions last month, setting a blistering time of 4:14.427 in Adelaide – a time that is faster than the Olympic record set by Britain’s reigning champion Bradley Wiggins.

However, the 20-year-old failed made the crucial mistake of going out far too fast in qualifying, and couldn’t hold the pace all the way — a mistake he says he will learn from.

“I always come to the worlds thinking to stand on top of the podium for first. I’m not going to lie, I’m definitely disappointed with my effort this morning,” said Bobridge, who finished second behind Phinney last year.

“I got a bit carried away and a bit excited. I’ll learn from my mistakes and you never know after a few years on the road I might be able to start that fast and finish that fast as well.”

Bobridge, who rides for the Garmin road team, added: “I’m definitely disappointed after coming out and riding 14 (4:14sec) at nationals a month ago. But to stand on third, I still got a medal and I got on the podium and head held high for tomorrow’s (Friday) team pursuit.”

Sergent’s silver medal came in the midst of the New Zealand women’s pursuit team setting a new world record of 3:21.552 on their way to bronze in their match-up with the United States.

Photo courtesy Casey B. Gibson/USA Cycling