Sam Gaze has won gold for New Zealand in the men's mountain biking event at the Commonwealth Games.
On a hot day at Cannock Chase, the defending champion from 2018 successfully negotiated what was regarded as a fast course to comfortably finish ahead of teammate Ben Oliver.
A gap of 31 seconds separated the two New Zealand representatives, the final two laps for each rider being a relatively formality in comparison to the battle going on for bronze behind them.
At one stage, it appeared like it would be a straight shootout for third position between Northern Ireland's Cameron Orr and England's Joe Blackmore.
However, the pair seemingly paid too much attention to retaining track position, subsequently losing time and allowing Namibia's Alexander Miller to quickly make it a three-horse race ahead of the final lap.
Miller entered the forest on the back wheel of both of his rivals but returned to the grass well clear, the 21-year-old ecstatic as he crossed the line after a remarkable comeback.
Orr and Blackmore were only separated by the smallest of margins in a photo-finish, ending the race nine seconds behind Miller.
The remainder of the field finished at least three minutes behind Gaze, England's Daniel McDonnell and Northern Ireland's Christopher McGlinchey crossing the line in eighth and ninth place respectively.
Darren Plant
