Cycling: Peden chasing 'explosive power'

WANGANUI - Anthony Peden does not like to stay in one place too long. The former Australian cycling representative, who switched his allegiance to New Zealand last year and is now living in Wanganui, is on the move again.

Peden, who cleaned up New Zealand's best sprinters on the final night of the national track championships at Cooks Gardens on Saturday, is off to Germany in August to train under respected coach Gerard Muller.

Peden wants to add more "explosive power" to his racing in an attempt to win a medal at the world championships in Berlin in late October, and ultimately in next year's Sydney Olympics.

"I'm in the top six in the world on current form but I need to find more explosive power," Peden said. "To be pushing the best I have to reach 72 km/h in seven seconds, but at the moment I'm reaching 69 km/h."

Peden won the senior men's sprint final with ridiculous ease. He warmed his legs by beating Auckland's Matt Sinton 2-0 in the semifinal, then dispatched Gavin Lee, also of Auckland, 2-0 in the final.

Peden won the first race of the best-of-three final by a conservative 20m and the second by an even greater margin despite sitting up and raising his arms above his head on entering the finishing straight.

While Peden's win was clearcut, the senior men's 15,000m required a photo to separate Commonwealth Games team-mates Hayden Godfrey and Brendan Cameron. Godfrey, aged 20, hung on by the barest of margins after a daring ride.

"It was do or die," an exhausted Godfrey said. "I put my head down and went as hard as I could. I was blowing up really badly. It would have been a real disappointment to get second again because it would have been my fourth silver."

Fiona Ramage successfully defended her national sprint title when she beat team-mate Joanne Kiesanowski 2-0.

In the other senior final, Gary Anderson's West Coast North Island team won the senior men's 4000m pursuit in a tight race against Canterbury. - NZPA