KEY POINTS:
In the space of four minutes and five seconds, the New Zealand team pursuiters have proven they are a quartet of genuine Olympic medal contenders.
They finished second behind Great Britain at World Cup cycling meets in both Sydney and Beijing in the past fortnight to sit second in the current World Cup rankings.
They broke the national record in Sydney and slashed it further a week later in China.
There are World Cup events in the US and Denmark before the world championships in Manchester but it's next year's Olympics and even the one four years later that this team is aiming for.
The top eight teams from the world championships qualify for the Olympics.
Three of the squad (Sam Bewley, Westley Gough and Jesse Sergent) were part of the combination which won the world junior championships teams pursuit in 2005 and, given their age and experience, London 2012 is a major target.
At 25, however, Marc Ryan is the senior statesman of the squad and his sights are firmly on Beijing.
"We are definitely medal contenders," Ryan said. "We rode a good time in Sydney and although Beijing could have been better we sent out a warning to other teams in those first 3kms that we are going to be there or thereabouts.
"Because there is so much competition [for places] in the team, it brings everyone up another level. It's also a very young side so it's pretty exciting."
There was widespread disappointment with the team pursuiters after their bronze-medal ride at last year's Commonwealth Games. Although they finished third, they were well off the pace of Britain and Australia but have made significant strides since then.
"We are looking for good things from this team in Beijing and even London," BikeNZ logistics manager Bryan Simmonds said. "They are one of the main events we are putting our energies into.
"They are a young team but they will get better with age and experience and we need to keep exposing them to a top level of competition."
With the riders scattered throughout the country from Waipukurau to Timaru and Te Awamutu to Manawatu, it's not always easy to get them together outside of major competitions.
"It's not too bad," Ryan said. "We don't spend much time together but most of our training is done on the road anyway. When we come together before major champs we work on our combinations and technique."
Simmonds wouldn't be specific but said they had targeted "two or three" medals in Beijing.
