Date: Monday, 13 June 2016

Rio-bound New Zealand track sprinters had a successful start to their Olympic competition build-up in Europe with a one-two finish in Germany.

Sam Webster beat off the challenge from teammate Eddie Dawkins in the sprint final at the German Grand Prix meet at Cottbus.

Webster topped qualifiers in 9.942s ahead of Dawkins in 9.979s, with Ethan Mitchell 10.226 and Zac Williams 10.250, with all four qualifying for the elimination rounds.

The team sprint trio of Webster, Dawkins and Mitchell progressed to the quarterfinals. Webster beat Mitchell and went on to beat London Olympic and former world keirin champion Maximilian Levy in two straight rides in his semifinal while Dawkins beat current keirin and time trial world champion Joachim Eilers in the decider in the other semifinal.

Webster then overcame Dawkins 2-0 in the best of three final to finish one-two on the podium, with Mitchell eighth and Williams 16th in a promising start to their competition phase.

Meanwhile Simon van Velthooven and Ben Stewart compete in the Keirin Cup in Pennsylvania, USA today.

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