Riders aim to move on from messy year
Eddie Dawkins on new sprint coach Rene Wolff, left he’s super serious underneath the jokes.
‘‘He has everyone’s best interests at heart and he’s got a lot of cool ideas to make us stronger and faster and bring us all together as a group as well. It’s not just about being fast, it’s about promoting that healthy workspace for everyone to grow together.’’
That hands-on coaching is what Wolff said he missed, having been in a performance management role for his last year and a half with the Dutch.
‘‘That’s where I get my own energy from,’’ said the 40-year-old, who has settled into Karapiro village with his wife and two children (with another two children with an ex-wife back in Germany).
‘‘And we all know if we are energised and we are good in life then we can add something to people’s lives and we can help them, and that’s what I’m doing here.’’
Arriving in rather tumultuous circumstances, Wolff said he didn’t know a lot about Peden’s coaching style, but that he wasn’t trying to compare himself to him in any case.
‘‘He did some good things with the team, because he obviously developed the team through to the top Olympic level. The way he left, that’s how life works.’’
Dawkins also felt that through all that controversy, the team has been able to band together and become stronger.
‘‘It seems to be the way, you know, not just in cycling, but in life, hardships bring out the best in people,’’ he said. ‘‘It makes you really want to strive for better.’’
Meanwhile, Natasha Hansen will now be the sole female sprinter in the squad for Cambridge, with Emma Cumming ruled out of both this meet and the next World Cup round in Hong Kong after sustaining a hip injury in training. She won’t be replaced in the team.
Former world champion and Commonwealth Games and Olympic medallist Hayden Roulston has come on board for three weeks as an assistant coach for the development teams in the men’s endurance programme.
‘‘Before he opens his mouth, if you just look at his resume, he already carries a fair amount of credibility with the riders,’’ Cycling New Zealand high performance director Martin Barras said. ‘‘Obviously by the time he opens his mouth it gets pretty interesting too.’’