KEY POINTS:
Hayden Roulston is leaving no stone unturned in his pursuit of a track cycling gold medal in his preferred men's individual pursuit event at the Beijing Olympics.
Roulston was among a group of seven track riders confirmed in the New Zealand contingent to Beijing where they will compete in the men's points race, individual pursuit, team pursuit, Madison and the women's individual and points events.
The others are 2004 world scratch race champion Greg Henderson, Marc Ryan, Sam Bewley, Westley Gough, Jesse Sergent and Alison Shanks, who will compete in the women's individual pursuit.
"I am very happy with my selection but it's obviously not finished yet - it's another step closer to my Olympic dream of a gold medal and I fully believe I am on the right track to achieve that goal," Roulston said yesterday.
The individual pursuit was his primary focus after finishing fourth at the world championships in Manchester and he is searching for the little increments in performance that would add up to a winning performance in Beijing.
Roulston, who set the New Zealand record off four minutes 18.334 seconds at Manchester, will need to get his time down into the 4min 16sec if he is to contend for the gold and said he was looking into every aspect.
"I will be testing new helmets, a new riding position and a new bike and comparing them to what I used at the world championships."
Already wind tunnel testing at Christchurch University showed a big improvement the tough Ashburton rider could make just by changing his helmet.
"So those are little things that add up over the space of 4km."
Physical preparation aside, he was also well into his mental preparations.
Roulston is expected to be New Zealand's busiest rider in Beijing, having been nominated for the team and individual pursuits and the Madison, but thinks he can handle it.
- NZPA
