Squad of 17 to concentrate on core Olympic events at world champs

WELLINGTON: New Zealand will take a 17strong team to the world track championships in Poland at the end of the month.

The team will focus on the core Olympic events as the priority, having qualified for 11 of the 12 races on the Tokyo Olympic schedule for the world championships.

It is led by threetime world champion men’s sprint team of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster

and Eddie Dawkins.

The trio recently produced two sub43sec rides — their best

since the Rio Olympics — in winning the world cup event in Cambridge.

After a slow start to the season, they are ranked sixth in the world. Added to that, Dawkins won the keirin and is ranked in the top 10, while Mitchell and Webster are combined to make New Zealand seventh on the nations’ sprint rankings.

Injury has forced Emma Cumming out of the championships, so Natasha Hansen will be joined by Olivia Podmore in the

women’s team sprint in which New Zealand is ranked fourth.

The biggest move has come from the women’s endurance squad under new coaches Ross Machejefski and Alex Greenfield.

They reduced the 4000m team pursuit national record to 4min 17sec prior to Christmas at the Paris world cup but lowered that mark to 4min 16.028sec in winning at Cambridge.

The team pursuit is ranked third in the world with the Madison and Omnium also both qualified, leading to a squad of six riders selected comprising Bryony Botha, Holly Edmondston, Kirstie James, Michaela Drummond, Racquel Sheath and Rushlee Buchanan.

The men’s endurance squad has a sixstrong squad in Poland. It will be without former Australian Jordan Kerby, a key in its remarkable team pursuit ride of 3min 50.159sec in Cambridge — the secondfastest in history — as he sits out his qualification period, per UCI rules, having switched allegiances to New Zealand.

That leaves the quartet of Regan Gough, Campbell Stewart, Nick Kergozou and Tom Sexton along with the return of former omnium world champion Aaron Gate and Commonwealth Games pursuit medallist Dylan Kennett.

However, an injury to Kennett has prevented him fulfilling the UCI requirement to compete at a world cup during the 201819 season in order to be eligible for selection for the world championships. Cycling New Zealand has asked for an exemption that would allow him to compete.

‘‘The key objective is to seek some strong performances to give us key qualifying points towards Tokyo, which is why we are focusing on Olympic events in Poland,’’ Cycling New Zealand high performance director Martin Barras said.

‘‘Where there are opportunities to benefit this squad with nonOlympic events, then we will race them. But with 18 months left before the 2020 Olympics our focus and efforts are firmly set on an Olympic agenda.