Cycling: NZ track team optimistic ahead of world champs

Alison Shanks is looking to break the three minute 30 second barrier in the individual pursuit in Poland this week. Photo / Kenny Rodger

New Zealand riders are quietly optimistic of success in the world track cycling championships starting in Poland on Thursday (NZT).

The 12-strong team are looking for continued international improvement at Pruskow, to build on their successes at the Olympics, and at the recent Beijing World Cup.

The championships were another stepping stone for the track programme towards next year's Commonwealth Games, the 2012 London Olympics and beyond, BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliott said today.

He is delighted with the continued improvement from the young track team since the Beijing Olympics and excited at the raw potential of the women's programme.

He is also under no illusions of the task ahead of them in Poland.

"We are up against fulltime proven professionals at the top of their game," Elliott said.

"Mostly we will be looking for continued improvement in performance as we build towards the 2012 Olympics.

"The group have trained exceptionally well under our coaching team led by Tim Carswell and are well prepared for the championships where they have the opportunity to push for medals this week."

New Zealand have three times won two medals at the world track championships - at Maebashi, Japan, in 1990, Berlin, Germany, in 1999, then gold medals by Sarah Ulmer and Greg Henderson at Melbourne, Australia, in 2004.

Six of the team have won medals at world junior level, and were looking to make their mark at senior level.

Leading the way are Beijing World Cup gold medallists Alison Shanks and Jesse Sergent in the women's and men's individual pursuits.

Shanks will be joined by newcomers Kaytee Boyd, rowing convert Jaime Nielsen and two-time world junior medallist Lauren Ellis in the fledgling women's team pursuit.

Sergent will be joined by fellow Beijing Olympic bronze medal squad members Sam Bewley, Marc Ryan, Wes Gough and Peter Latham for the men's team pursuit.

Dunedin's Shanks will be looking to go under the magical three minute 30 second barrier this week, after bringing her 3000m pursuit time down by more than five seconds in the last 12 months.

Olympic gold medallist, Rebecca Romero, will be missing this week but fellow-Briton, Wendy Houvenaghel, a world champion and team pursuit gold medallist will start favourite.

The women's team pursuit, a new event on the world calendar, will be difficult to predict with Boyd and Nielsen competing for the first time, having only taken up track racing three months ago.

Sergent has emerged as a shining prospect, clocking the fastest time by a New Zealander of 4min 17.961sec at the Beijing World Cup - faster than the Olympic silver medal-winning time of Hayden Roulston.

Weeks later, Sergent went faster at the national championships in Invercargill, setting a national record of 4min 16.714sec.

Olympics gold medallist Briton Bradley Wiggins is not competing but team-mate Ed Clancy is a likely contender along with Jenning Huizenga of the Netherlands, Russian Alexei Markov and American world junior champion Taylor Phinney.

The men's pursuit squad will be looking to build on their Olympic bronze medal performance of 3min 57.566sec and test major contenders Denmark, Australia and Britain - who will be without Geraint Thomas and Wiggins, who are concentrating on the road this year.

Christchurch's Hayden Godfrey will be out to defend his world title in the omnium and could also be a prospect in the scratch race, an event that New Zealand has won two world championship medals in, through Henderson in 2004 and 2005.

Ellis, who won individual pursuit medals at the world junior championships in 2006 and 2007, will compete in the women's scratch and points races while sprinters Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill) and Simon Van Velthooven (Palmerston North) step up in the sprints, keirin and 1km time trial.

Shanks is the first in action in the women's individual pursuit on Thursday.

Friday's action sees Sergent (individual pursuit) in action, along with the women's pursuit team, Van Velthooven in the kierin and Godfrey in the scratch race .

Saturday has the men's team pursuit racing along with Dawkins in the time-trial and Ellis in the scratch race, with the women's omnium and men's sprint on Sunday.

The championships wrap up with the men's omnium, sprints and women's points race on Monday.

- NZPA