Track Nationals, who is in, who is out

Feb 2nd, 12. The NZ Track National Championships are being held in Invercargill this weekend where the Olympics is very much at the top of everyone's minds.

The championships form another important part of the season's programme which culimates with the London Olympics in August. Selectors face a daunting task and some tough decisions as they fine-tune teams initially for this month's World Cup in London, the World Championships in Melbourne in April and finally the Olympics.

"There are some selections still to be made for the World Cup and of course long term we have to work around the IOC limitations on team numbers for London which is quite complex," said BikeNZ High Performance Director, Mark Elliott.

Endurance riders

While some riders are looking to impress the selectors and stake their claim on an Olympic berth, other top riders are not required to be racing.

Five of New Zealand's top endurance riders will be missing from the boards – Jesse Sergent is with his RadioShack Nissan Trek road team while Shane Archbold is competing in Europe as a lead-in to the London Track World Cup. Three women's team pursuiters (Alison Shanks, Lauren Ellis and Jaime Nielsen) will be in training at the velodromr but not competing.

Sergent's spot for the London World Cup is up for grabs along with significant opportunities for riders to push claims for wider selection to April's World Championships and on to the Olympics. The depth in the endurance group is significant including Beijing Olympic medallist Westley Gough, fellow squad member Peter Latham and under-23 tyro Myron Simpson.

Three members of the men's team pursuit squad (Sam Bewley, Aaron Gate, Marc Ryan) will bypass the pursuit but will be competing in a range of other events.

There will also be interest in the form of Southland's Tom Scully, recently re-signed with Chipolte First Solar, the under-23 development team of World Tour team Garmin Barracuda. Scully has worked his way back from major career-threatening injuries after a crash during The RAS Tour of Ireland in 2010 which cost him a spot in the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Sprint battles

The key squad of sprinters will all be competing at the nationals with a further chance for the women's pair of Natasha Hansen and Katie Schofield to impress for inclusion in the London World Cup as they keep alive their late bid for Olympic selection.

The men will resume their battles and hope to press their Olympic claims to include all four leading riders; Simon van Velthooven (Palmerston North), Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill) and Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell (both Auckland).

Programme