NZ Track World Championship team announced

Mar 16th, 10. The 17 rider squad for the UCI World Track Cycling Championships was named today and it includes a record five strong sprint team as well as defending World Champion Alison Shanks.

Shanks will hope her Dad has more to celebrate later this month ©RoadCycling.co.nz

• USA team announced
• Australian team announced
• Great Britian team announced

New Zealand will take one of its biggest squads ever to the UCI World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen 24-28 March.

BikeNZ selectors today named a 17-strong team which leaves for Denmark tomorrow.

Head coach Tim Carswell is looking for the team to build on the recent World Cup successes and produce improved levels of performance, although he is expecting stronger competition than last year's championships.

"This is a strong squad and our focus has been to get them in the best possible form at this stage. I would like to think we can make gains as we work towards the Commonwealth Games later in the year and on to the 2012 London Olympics," Carswell said.

"We are expecting more strength across the board at this year's world championships with Commonwealth countries building for New Delhi and other key nations establishing their programmes towards London."

Endurance team

Individual pursuit

Alison Shanks will be defending her World Champion title in the individual pursuit and Jesse Sergent is back to improve on his 5th place last year.

Team pursuit

The women's team, which won silver last year,  is led by Shanks along with national road/criterium/scratch champion Rushlee Buchanan (Te Awamutu), Jaime Nielsen and Lauren Ellis.

The men's pursuit squad, which won bronze last year,  is unchanged with Jesse Sergent, Sam Bewley, Wes Gough, Peter Latham and Marc Ryan.

Madison & points
Brilliant Invercargill 20 year old, Tom Scully, who has been in outstanding form in recent World Cups, has won selection for the points race and will race the madison with Marc Ryan.

Omnium

Levin rider Gemma Dudley, who turned 20 last week, is rewarded for her outstanding form at the recent national championships with selection for her event, the omnium, which will become an Olympic event in London.  Dudley is the only newcomer in the squad.

The final endurance position has gone to Auckland's Myron Simpson who will race the omnium after excellent form in the recent track training camp.  2008 World Champion Hayden Godfrey is not competing, he hasn't managed to get back to top form after a car vs bike incident back in January.

"It will be a great opportunity for him," Godfrey said about Simpson racing the omnium.  "I didn't make the cut for worlds. I just didn't manage to get back to the standard I am capable of," he told RoadCycling.co.nz yesterday morning (read more).

Five strong sprint team

The team includes a full squad of five sprinters for the first time, demanded after the burgeoning performances from the young group of 2009 world junior champions Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell, Eddie Dawkins, Adam Stewart and Simon Van Velthooven.

"We decided the sprint programme has improved to a stage where we wanted to ensure we have covered all eventualities in Copenhagen, and hence we are taking the fifth rider," said Carswell.

(l-r, Sam Webster, Ethan Mitchell, Eddie Dawkins, Adam Stewart and Simon Van Velthooven ©RoadCycling.co.nz)

New Zealand team

Staff: Tim Carswell (head coach), Dayle Cheatley (women's coach), Justin Grace (sprint coach), Craig Adair (manager), Craig Palmer and Kat Phillips (sports science), Mark Hollands and Rebecca Adams (physiotherapists), Dale Hollows and Chris O'Connor (mechanics).

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