Cycling: Shifting into top gear

By DAVID LEGGGAT

Think Olympic Games and New Zealand cycling and Sarah Ulmer's name leaps to mind.

The world recordholder and world champion in the 3000m individual pursuit is likely to start favourite for the gold medal.

However, there is another woman in the squad heading for Athens who might make heads turn on the road, Canterbury's Joanne Kiesanowski.

If you're not a firm cycling afficionado you can be excused a dose of Joanne Who? For six years, virtually since leaving high school in Christchurch, Kiesanowski has made her living riding the roads in the United States and Europe.

And now, in Olympic year, like a quality racehorse, she's making her run.

After winning the senior points race and getting second in the Keirin at the national track championships in Manukau in March, the versatile Kiesanowski packed her bags, initially back to the United States and then Europe for the start of a lengthy Olympic buildup programme.

She performed consistently well on the demanding World Cup circuit this year.

In the first four races she had finishes of 11, 8, 9 and 9, the best result coming in the Primavera Rosa race near Milan. The circuit continues after the Olympics.

With Olympic road race teammates Michelle Hyland and Melissa Holt alongside her, she rode the Giro d'Italia this month, their first workout together since April. Kiesanowski had three top 10 finishes and an 11th in the first four stages before withdrawing to return to the Games leadup programme.

Throw in some tidy results in the US and Kiesanowski, with a world ranking of 44, is quietly positioning herself to have a decent crack at the road race on August 15.

She is racing a six-day tour, the Thuringen-Rundfahrt race in the old East Germany, until Sunday. Then there are two weeks off, dedicated to training, before preparations wind up with a one-day event, the Sparkassen Giro over about 120km, on August 8 in Germany before heading to Athens.

As well as Holt and Hyland, she has fellow New Zealanders Robyn Wong of Wellington - who is New Zealand's women's mountainbike representative at Athens - Dunedin's Dale Tye and Auckland's Toni Bradshaw on the tour.

Kiesanowski admitted her form on the World Cup circuit opened her eyes to her own possibilities in Athens. "I was really happy. I got 11th in the first race in Australia and I knew I could be in the top 10.

"If you'd asked me a year ago I had no idea how I was going to go. I would have thought top 10 was pretty cool. Now I expect top 10 finishes and know I can get in the top three if everything goes right.

"It's been really good getting those results and getting my confidence up, and getting the team's confidence up, so they trust me to get a result and that they're not working for nothing."

The likely strategy at Athens will be Holt and Hyland chasing down breaks, essentially working for Kiesanowski. Three riders chasing individual glory simply doesn't work, but then if it comes down to the last 15km and Holt or Hyland is in the lead group they most likely will get orders to go for themselves.

The smaller Athens field, a maximum of 67 riders, with no more than three per team, should work to the New Zealanders' advantage.

Kiesanowski has become used to riding in events with more than 150 riders, sometimes with teams of up to eight riders working in unison. In that respect Athens will seem like a breeze.

"But then it is the best of the best. Tactics are a lot different but it could be really good for us."

Kiesanowski headed for the US when she had just turned 20. She spent two years riding as an individual trying to cut it in a tough environment.

Then she picked up a contract with the Colavita professional team out of New Jersey. She's been with them four years, the only non-American in the setup.

All of which points to a fair amount of determination.

She was overlooked for the Manchester Commonwealth Games, which grated on her. Now she has her sights on Melbourne in two years, plus the Beijing Olympics in 2008, by which time she should be around her racing prime.

Considering her world ranking, and trimming out riders above her who won't make their country's quota in Athens, Kiesanowski is not the longest of longshots capable of producing a surprise success story next month.

Joanne Kiesanowski

Born: May 24, 1979, Christchurch

Educated: Marian College, Christchurch

World road ranking: 44

Rides for: Colavita professional team in United States

New Zealand road team for Athens:

Kiesanowski, Melissa Holt (Cambridge), Michelle Hyland (Gisborne)