
Simon van Velthooven and Joe Sullivan were cyclists on board Team New Zealand's revolutionary boat, turning the winches with their pedal power, as the Kiwis trounced Oracle Team USA 7-1 to win the America's Cup in Bermuda on June.

Following the parades and parties they have gone back to their respective day jobs, Sullivan (front) as a firefighter and van Velthooven (behind) as a student.

Van Velthooven, formerly an Olympic cyclist, admitted he was blown away by the reaction on his return to New Zealand in the aftermath of the win.

Sullivan was surprised by the number of people who gathered for the Auckland parade, more than met the famous All Blacks rugby team after their World Cup triumph.

A week after returning to his work as a firefighter, Sullivan was tackling a big blaze at a hotel in Auckland.

It is a far cry from his past life where (second from left) he won Olympic gold in rowing in 2012.

Van Velthooven is no stranger to track success, winning medals at both Olympic and World Championship level but has no plans, aged 28, to go back to the sport.

Sullivan lifts the America's Cup in New Zealand, ticking off what he describes as one of the dreams of every five-year-old in New Zealand.

The celebration was just as sweet for van Velthooven, whose life took a sharp turn when Team New Zealand came looking for a cycling specialist to help with its innovative leg-powered winch grinders.