By Michael Pavitt

Bos previously piloted Rinne Oost to gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games ©Getty ImagesStephen de Vries and pilot Patrick Bos secured the hosts third gold medal on the third day of the Para-cycling Track World Championship, in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.


Following on from Alyda Norbruis' two gold medals in the opening days of the World Championships, de Vries and Bos were aiming to add to the Dutch tally in the men's visually impaired event.

The tandem cyclists faced Australian pairing Matt Formston and Michael Curren for the right to claim the rainbow jerseys, after both teams qualified fasted for the final of the 4 kilometres discipline.

De Vries and Bos proved to have too much for the Australians to take gold in 4min 21.310sec, while Polish pairing Marcin Polak and pilot Michal Ladosz rounded off the podium, after their time of 4:22.186 saw them win the bronze medal race against Spain's Ignacio Avila Rodriguez and Joan Font Bertoli.

"We didn't exactly know how good the Australians were, so we were afraid that they might be much better than us", de Vries said.

"During the race however we found out that wasn't the case."

Dame Sarah Storey earned her second gold of the World Championships ©Getty ImagesDame Sarah Storey earned her second gold of the World Championships ©Getty Images



In the equivalent women's event, raced over 3km, New Zealand's defending champions Emma Foy and pilot Laura Fairweather retained their title in 3:3.080, ahead of Japan's Yurie Januma and Mai Tanaka who finished in 3:39.549.

The bronze medal race proved to be one of the closest fought contests of the day, with Ireland's Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal completing the podium in 3:39.549, finishing 0.101 seconds ahead of Britain's Lora Turnham and Lauryn Therin.

There was British success in the women's C5 event, as Dame Sarah Storey unsurprisingly claimed her second gold of the World Championships, qualifying fastest for the final in 3:39.553.

The 11-time Paralympic medallist then caught her Polish opponent Anna Hawkowska to secure the gold, while Greta Neimanas replicated the feat to beat Jennifer Schuble in an all-American bronze medal race.

There was further American success in the C4 event with Megan Fisher and Shawn Morelli claiming silver and bronze medals respectively, but Australia's Susan Powell clinched the gold in 4:08.127.

Australia's Michael Gallagher claimed gold in the men's C5 race by beating his teammate Alistair Donohoe, while Slovakia's Jozef Metelka won the C4 gold after catching Romania's London 2012 Paralympic gold medallist Carol-Eduard Novak in the final.

The Para-cycling Track World Championship, organised by the International Cycling Union, are due draw to a close tomorrow with two visually impaired sprint events, four scratch races and a single mixed team sprint.

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