Champion sprint trio lead NZ charge
The three-time world champion sprint trio of Sam Webster, Ethan Mitchell and Eddie Dawkins will lead the charge for New Zealand’s elite cyclists when the Oceania Track Cycling Championships begin in Cambridge today.
Webster is back with Mitchell and Dawkins after three months racing in Japan’s prestigious Keirin League earlier this year, as Kiwi riders eye valuable qualifying points for the UCI World Championships that also go towards next year’s Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The trio were New Zealand’s only cyclists to win a medal at last year’s Rio Olympics, with silver in the team sprint – a poor return when cycling was second only to rowing ($17.4 million to $19.6 million) for government financial support in the last four-year Olympic cycle.
Webster, Mitchell and Dawkins then won their third team sprint world title in Hong Kong in April, following on from their successes in 2014 and 2016.
They will wear their world championship rainbow jerseys for the first time when competing in New Zealand at Cambridge’s Avantidrome against an Australian team stacked with world champions.
Winning an Oceania title guarantees automatic qualification for the next UCI World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland, next February, but all the stringent planning and carefully considered preparation evolves day by day, year by year, as studious riders like Webster target Tokyo and going one better than their silver in Rio.
‘‘You can’t focus on winning medals – that’s the result you hope for. We’re looking to improve our performance and the process,’’ the 26-year-old Aucklander said as New Zealand’s elite track cyclists were last month announced for the Oceania Championships and World Cup events.
‘‘For us that means our longterm goal is Tokyo and taking that approach is what will get us to achieve the ultimate goal which is in two years and nine months time. It’s a really well-rounded plan for four years because we need all those components to come together in Tokyo.’’
Webster and team-mates Mitchell and Dawkins, who have this year both been competing around Europe, are the headline acts on day one of four in Cambridge.