The Southland cyclist Eddie Dawkins has smashed his New Zealand record in the kilo time trial on the opening night of the National Track Championships in Invercargil.
In a world class performance, 20-year-old Dawkins took point-six of a second off the mark he set a year ago.
His time was among the fastest in the world this year, bettered by only two riders in UCI World Cup events.
Dawkins says he hasn't ridden that well for a year and so he really wanted to pull out a big ride, especially in front of his home crowd.
He has set his sights on the upcoming world championships and selection to the Commonwealth Games.
World pursuit champion Alison Shanks showed she also has plenty of speed when she took out the 500m time trial, edging national sprint champion Natasha Hansen.
