New Zealand's Olympic track cycling squad has taken a rare chance to race together in Invercargill ahead of the Elite Track Cycling Championships this week.
Sam Dakin and Ethan Mitchell. Photo: Photosport
The Tokyo squad is enjoying some much-needed race competition which marks the completion of the last training block before their final training phase for the Olympics.
Much of the team have spent the last training block competing in road events and the Championships provides a chance to refocus in the build up to the games.
"It is an important marker for the progress for the Olympians and Paralympians as those athletes move into the final phase for Japan." says Cycling New Zealand high performance director, Martin Barras.
The Elite track squads completed two time trials, to mimic their racing in Tokyo, with an initial qualifying ride in the afternoon and a second run in the evening at the Invercargil Velodrome.
The Men's Team Pursuit quartet impressed by clocking 3:46.6 over the 4000m which was almost one second faster than their silver-medal winning time set at the World Championship last year.
The time is just two seconds outside Denmark's world record set in winning the world championship final, although is unofficial and cannot be recognised as a New Zealand record.
Despite their strong effort, the first-string quartet of Regan Gough, Campbell Stewart, Corbin Strong and Aaron Gate aren't without competition after an impressive outing from the team's second combination that includes the likes of Hugo Jones and Nick Kergozou.
Team Pursuit practice Photo: Photosport
The Women's Team Pursuit also managed an encouraging time of 4:11.8 which was only 1.5 seconds off Great Britain's world record and a second outside the national record.
The Women's quartet was lead by new-starter Jamie Nielsen with Holly Edmondston at wheel two, Kirstie James at three and Bryony Botha at four.
"Overall, the performances were encouraging across the board," Cycling NZ's Martin Barras said, "The men's and women's endurance squads have come straight off a major block of racing on the road, and some have yet to make a full recovery but we know the racing will set them up well for the next key training block,"
Meanwhile, the Men's Team Sprint team made a change with new-comer Sam Dakin starting for the first time and with more experience the group is confident of a competitive international time at Tokyo.
"It was a big effort for Sam Dakin to move to starter but considering his lack of experience, there were good signs they are moving in the right direction." said Barras.
Martin Barras says the championships are a great chance to show off the hard work the Elite teams have put into training up until now..
"Globally we continue to be in challenging times but in New Zealand, in the main, we have been able to train over recent months and these championships represent the opportunity to express that in competition." he said.
The Tokyo Team riders now remove their national black racing suits for provincial colours ready for the start of the national championships on today which feature time trials for Under-19 and Para-Cyclists in the morning and elites in the evening.
- Cycling New Zealand
