KEY POINTS:
New Zealand cyclists continue their quest for qualification for the Beijing Olympics in the penultimate round of the UCI World Cup track series in Los Angeles next weekend.
The selectors have named a nine-strong squad to contest the third round of the World Cup from January 18 to 20.
Dunedin's Greg Henderson will be looking to cement his claims in the men's points race where he is in third place on world cup points.
He will miss the madison, returning to Australia to contest the Tour Down Under for his professional team High Road Sports, which was formerly known as T-Mobile. Instead, partner Hayden Roulston will likely team up with Hayden Godfrey, Jason Allen or Shem Rodger in the madison, where the Kiwis need points as they are 13th on the standings.
Christchurch rider Joanne Kiesanowski has been preparing at altitude in the US for her scratch race, currently in 12th place on the standings.
With men's pursuiter Marc Ryan and the New Zealand team highly placed in the standings, the selectors have opted to develop their depth with a new combination including Alex Cull, Rodger, Allen, Darren Shea and Hayden Godfrey.
Otago's Dale Tye will also contest the women's individual pursuit, with Alison Shanks, currently eighth in the standings, still not fully recovered from the shoulder injury she received in a crash in the Beijing World Cup.
The final world cup is in Denmark next month.
BikeNZ also announced a six-strong New Zealand team to contest the Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia from February 9-17.
The team are Joseph Chapman (Otago), Logan Hutchings (Bay of Plenty), Scott Lyttle (Wairarapa), Robin Reid (Marlborough), Ashley Whitehead (South Canterbury), Jeremy Yates (Hawkes Bay).
- NZPA
