Cycling: Trio of three-time Olympic veterans head Athens team

By DAVID LEGGAT

Three riders will line up for their third Olympic Games in August, spearheading an 18-strong team for Athens.

The trio, world champions Sarah Ulmer and Greg Henderson, and road specialist Julian Dean, were certainties for selection in the team named yesterday, having been part of the Atlanta team of 1996 and Sydney four years ago.

Ulmer will ride the 3000m individual pursuit, in which she broke the world record in Melbourne last week, and the points race.

Henderson, who won the world scratch title in Melbourne, is in the points race and the two-man madison with Hayden Roulston. They won silver at last year's world championships.

Dean is in the men's road race. Dean, New Zealand's premier road rider and ranked No 59 in the world, is recovering from breaking both elbows in a race in Dunkerque a month ago.

BikeNZ has nine track riders, seven on the road and mountainbikers Kaschi Leuchs and Robyn Wong, respectively ranked world No 15 and 42.

The rest of the track team includes a team pursuit quintet and keirin rider Anthony Peden.

The road team includes Jeremy Yates, who won the world under-19 road title in 2000. He missed the 2002 Commonwealth Games while serving an 18-month suspension, with his brother Matthew, imposed by the national body for bad behaviour, but has since shown his class on the roads at home and in Europe.

Joanne Kiesanowski of Christchurch will lead the women's road hopes. She is in 13th spot on the women's World Cup standings after six of the nine races.


NZ LINE-UP TRACK

Sarah Ulmer (Cambridge, 3000m individual pursuit, points race)

Greg Henderson (Dunedin, points race, madison)

Hayden Roulston (Ashburton, madison)

Anthony Peden (Newcastle, keirin)

Marc Ryan (Timaru, team pursuit)

Hayden Godfrey (Christchurch, team pursuit)

Matt Randall (Invercargill, team pursuit)

Peter Latham (Te Awamutu, team pursuit)

Tim Gudsell (Kihikihi, team pursuit)

ROAD

Julian Dean, right (Rotorua, road race)

Jeremy Yates (Hastings, road race)

Heath Blackgrove (Waimata, road race)

Robin Reid (Blenheim, road race)

Joanne Kiesanowski (Christchurch, road race)

Melissa Holt (Cambridge, road race)

Michelle Hyland (Gisborne, road race)

MOUNTAINBIKING

Kaschi Leuchs (Dunedin, crosscountry)

Robyn Wong (Wellington, crosscountry)