ARA Australian Cycling Team win team pursuit gold and two bronze at Konya UCI Track Nations Cup

The ARA Australian Cycling Team men's team pursuit squad has picked up from where they left off at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, winning gold at the 2025 UCI Track Nations Cup in Konya, Türkiye, albeit with four line-up changes.

Oliver Bleddyn is the lone Olympic champion in Konya, but the 23-year-old was only seen in the first round race versus New Zealand, with teammates Josh Duffy, James Moriarty, Blake Agnoletto and Liam Walsh exemplifying the depth of talent in the squad by winning the gold medal final against the United States of America in 3:45.306.

That time was the fastest of Australia's three rides throughout the opening day of racing after stopping the clock at 3:45.712 in the first round and 3:47.963 in qualifying.

"We're obviously super excited, it's the start of a new Olympic cycle and for us it was a big goal to come out swinging and make sure we keep momentum from the Olympics," Duffy said.

"None of us except Oli rode there but it's nice to show the depth of men's team pursuiting in Australia with this squad."

The victory is Australia's first in this event since the second stop of the 2022 UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada.

"We've come together on such short notice with three of us coming from Australia and two from Europe so trying to come together without much preparation was a challenge," Walsh said.

"I'm really proud of the way we all pulled it together and I think we produced three really high-quality rides which start the cycle and our time as a unit really well."

"Like Liam said, we came together on pretty short notice but I think it just goes to show that we're a tight group and that we've got great culture within the squad," Bleddyn continued.

"There's a lot of depth and to be able to come together on short notice and gel so well together as a team is awesome."

Bronze medals to the ARA Australian Cycling Team women's team pursuit and men's team sprint completed a fruitful night for the green-and-gold.

Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards, Keira Will, Claudia Marcks and Sally Carter, who rode qualifying, turned in a positive day for the women's endurance squad, highlighted by their first round time of 4:11.931.

Plouffe, Edwards, Will and Marcks looked to be cruising towards a comfortable win in the bronze medal final versus Poland before gaps began to emerge in the pace line with three laps remaining, however, the team dug deep and held on to their bronze medal by 1.754 seconds.

Ryan Elliott, Leigh Hoffman and Danny Barber were fast and consistent in their bronze medal-winning team sprint day.

The trio recorded three solid times — 42.352 in the bronze medal final against France, 42.047 in the first round versus Canada and 42.330 in qualifying.

In other results, the women's team sprint squad comprised of Alessia McCaig, Kristine Perkins and Sophie Watts finished fifth, posting their fastest of two times in qualifying at 47.405.

Bleddyn finished sixth in the men's elimination race, while Marcks finished 17th.

Day 1 results:

• Men's team pursuit - Gold (Josh Duffy, Liam Walsh, Blake Agnoletto, James Moriarty, Oliver Bleddyn)
• Women's team pursuit - Bronze (Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards, Keira Will, Claudia Marcks, Sally Carter)
• Men's team sprint - Bronze (Ryan Elliott, Leigh Hoffman, Danny Barber)
• Women's team sprint - 5th (Kristine Perkins, Alessia McCaig, Sophie Watts)
• Men's elimination race - 6th (Oliver Bleddyn)
• Women's elimination race - 17th (Claudia Marcks)

Feature picture: Oliver Bleddyn, Blake Agnoletto, Josh Duffy, coach Glenn O'Shea, James Moriarty and Liam Walsh won team pursuit gold overnight in Konya. (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)