Cycling: Games team will miss legend

Eddie Dawkins. Photo / Getty Images

They have a better chance of winning medals but New Zealand's sprint cyclists are lamenting Sir Christopher Hoy's decision to bypass the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

New Zealand is now favoured to win the team sprint in Delhi with Britain losing key personnel such as Hoy and being split into the four separate identities of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

New Zealand has not won a team sprint medal at the Games. The Kiwi team of Eddie Dawkins, Adam Stewart and Sam Webster finished fifth at the world championships compared to Britain's third and Australia's seventh.

The 34-year-old Hoy, a track cycling legend, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics became the first Briton since 1908 to win three gold medals at one Games. He won the sprint, team sprint and Keirin events. The Scotsman has won gold at the previous two Commonwealth Games.

His decision has come because of the need for British cycling to earn Olympic qualification points at the new European championships, which are yet to have a confirmed date or venue. The event is expected to coincide with the Delhi Games - at least with training schedules - meaning athletes can only peak for one.

Hoy's decision means other Brits are likely to give Delhi a miss. Women's Olympic sprint champion Victoria Pendleton is one who made that same call last week.

It follows changes to the Olympic programme which limit the number of riders to one from each country, per sprint event, as well as the number of European countries who can race in the team sprint.

The world governing body, the UCI, has also adopted a regional system restricting places. That means Britain faces tough opposition from the likes of Germany and France, who beat them at March's world championships in Copenhagen. Russia, the Netherlands and Poland will also provide serious competition.

The qualification period for the 2012 London Olympics began after this year's world championships and runs until the corresponding Melbourne event in 2012.

The 21-year-old Dawkins is already the top-ranked Commonwealth kilo time triallist (now a non-Olympic event) and he becomes fourth-ranked in the sprint if all the top Brits give that event a swerve. Likewise Hoy's absence means 19-year-old Webster is second-ranked in the Keirin.

New Zealand sprint coach Justin Grace, who competed at the previous two Commonwealth Games, says the British decision is still disappointing.

"My guys are gutted he [Hoy] is not going to be there. It's always nice to foot it against a multiple Olympic champion. But it doesn't change the style of racing and won't detract from the event too much because other strong teams are present like Australia and Malaysia."

BikeNZ high performance manager Mark Elliott says while it is annoying, the Games fulfil other purposes.

"It would've been good to put the razz up the Brits because athletes always like to take on the best but this campaign is also a chance to manage our logistics; it is an operational exercise too.

"We are staying at a base in Bordeaux from the start of September through to Delhi, because that is what we intend to do ahead of London. The base has a good velodrome and we get on well with the locals.

"It is a comfortable arrangement that works."