Cycling: Another blow for NZ squad

By CHRIS RATTUE

The New Zealand cycling squad have struck more illness and injury problems, days before the Olympics open.

Anthony Peden, who rides in the sprint on Monday, could not train yesterday because of a back injury.

This comes on top of the woes of track star Sarah Ulmer and road cyclist Susy Pryde.

Peden's was a typical injury for sprinters, but track coach Ron Cheatley said it was still too early to judge its seriousness.

Ulmer, who rides in her favoured individual pursuit on Sunday night, had her first decent training at the Dunc Gray Velodrome yesterday but has not done any points race training because of a leg injury.

"We had aimed to do about two-thirds pursuit training and one third points," Cheatley said.

He said Ulmer's mood was upbeat but there was still a fear that the loss of training time could affect her endurance.

Pryde contracted bronchitis this week, on top of an earlier viral infection and tonsilitis. She is in the mountainbike race next Saturday, and the road race three days later.

"Considering what I've gone through, the bronchitis seems the least of my worries," she said.

"I've never had these sort of illnesses so close to a big event, so it means I'm going into the unknown.

Individual pursuiter Gary Anderson - the Olympic bronze medallist in 1992 - and times trial riders Fiona Ramage and Matthew Sinton ride tomorrow night, when the time trial medals will be decided. The men's pursuit medals are decided on Sunday night.

Anderson, Sinton and hopefully Peden will train at the velodrome again today, but Cheatley will send the rest of his track team out for road work.

Trying to get all the riders to their mental peak for the Olympics is a delicate balancing act. Cheatley, who is at his fifth Olympic Games and has coached at five Commonwealth Games, gives riders in the pursuit squad different schedules at times to suit their mood and form.

The New Zealand team is helped because the Olympic velodrome is the same design as the one in Cheatley's hometown, Wanganui.

And because of stricter rules brought in by the international cycling body, the riders have not been faced with any surprise innovations from rivals.

The only surprise is a radical new body position being used by Olympic individual pursuit champion, Antonella Bellutti, one of Ulmer's major rivals.

But Cheatley does not believe it is giving the Italian any advantage.