New Australian sprint champion Alex Bird was relegated to the keirin repechage on the last day of the national track cycling championships.

The day after causing the upset of the championships, Bird finished third on Sunday in his round-one keirin heat.

The ACT rider was caught behind heat winner Shane Perkins and second-placed Peter Lewis after Queensland rider Zac Deller crashed.

Bird achieved the best result of his career by beating Perkins, the defending champion, two heats to nil to win the sprint gold medal.

NSW pair Mitchell Bullen and Andrew Taylor won their keirin heats to reach the next round.

Sprint queen Anna Meares and her team sprint partner Kaarle McCulloch predictably won their first-round heats of the women’s keirin.