Best in Business Return to South

The best in the business of track cycling are in the south (yet again) this week for the RaboDirect Elite Track Nationals from Saturday to Monday.

Southland has a proud recent record having lifted the National Points Shield as the top Centre in the country in 2008 and successfully repelling all-comers every year since.
My blatant pitch to get you to come for a look isn’t a hard sell because 2012 will be something special for two main reasons.

One is the Olympics. BikeNZ will name its squad to travel to the UCI World Cup in London next month following the Champs. This, by most experts’ estimations, will be a shadow Olympic squad with those selected having a large advantage over their mates when the seats to the Games are dished out.

Much interest surrounds whether the Women’s Sprinters can continue their last minute drive for qualification. Southland’s Natasha Hansen is the corner-stone of their meteoric rise and thanks to the mystical world of UCI and Olympic qualification, they need to rely on results off-shore (most notably Venezeula at the Pan-American Games) to determine whether they get a trip to Mother England in July. All they can control however is going as fast as they can (something Tarsh has excelled at over the last two years) so expect that to continue this weekend.

The Men’s Sprint is just as fascinating. No issues around qualification for the blokes – the only issue is that four doesn’t go in to three. Simon van Velthooven is putting all sorts of pressure on the incumbent Team Sprint combination of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Southland’s own Eddie Dawkins. Nationals will pit this foursome against each other, with Cycling Southland’s Matt Archibald right in the mix, and the result should be some spectacular viewing.

And just for good measure, the Men’s Endurance racing this weekend will also have a big say in the final make-up of the Men’s Team Pursuit combination. With Jesse Sergent off-shore riding for his Pro-Tour road team and assured of one spot in the four-man squad, it comes down to a battle for the other three places between a host of riders including the experienced Marc Ryan, Sam Bewley, Peter Latham (fresh from individual gold in Beijing), Westley Gough and the young comer Aaron Gate. Again the maths just don’t work and the decision will be one of toughest calls. The winner will be those of us lucky to watch it play out this weekend at the Velodrome.

The other reason this year will hold more interest than usual is the small matter of the UCI Juniors Track World Championships in Southland in August. This weekend’s champs will also feature the Under 19 Men and Women Omniums. Six events all rolled in to one – with the top performers likely to be back south in August, representing their country in front of a home crowd at a World Championship.

High motivation for all of them to perform. High motivation for you to attend.

Slow Start to New Year ... Yeah Right!

The days of slowly working your way back in to the New Year are gone.

Cycling Southland is right in the heart of our most hectic time of the year. In fact it hasn’t really stopped since October. 2012 has begun in outstanding fashion at a representative level with victories for members James Williamson and Nicky Samuels at the Elite Road Nationals along with a top five finish for Kylie Young in the Women’s Time Trial.

Then on Friday night we were all glued to our computer screens following the progress of four Southlanders riding for New Zealand in Beijing at the latest round of the UCI World Cups. The four World Cups are crucial opportunities to gain selection places and qualification points ahead of the World Champs in Melbourne in April and the London Olympics in July. Eddie Dawkins was joined by club-mates Matt Archibald, Cameron Karwowski and Natasha Hansen in the black skin-suit and each staked a claim for World Championship consideration.

Matt broke the 18 second mark for his opening lap in the Men’s Team Sprint on the way to a bronze medal with Eddie while Cam fought illness to also ride his way onto the podium to collect bronze in the Team Pursuit. For Tarsh, it was her first chance to showcase her talents on the world stage and she claimed fifth in the time trial, a very respectable 13th in the Women’s Sprint and 8th in the Team Sprint with Otago’s Katie Schofield. We wait to see whether that will be enough to earn a berth at the next World Cup and World Champs.

Closer to home we witnessed a phenomenal ride by Jeremy Yates to win the inaugural Milford Mountain Classic on Wednesday. With such spectacular surroundings around us, it would be easy to neglect to give Jeremy the credit he deserves for his solo performance. We followed him on his climb to the Homer Tunnel and tried to keep up with him on his descent on the other side. He made both look easy. Check www.cyclingsouth.org.nz/milford to see video and photos from the day.

Our annual ILT New Year Track Carnival at the Velodrome on Friday and Saturday was another huge success and a great hit-out for young and old ahead of the upcoming National Champs. It’s always a joy to watch Pieter Bulling firing on all cylinders and his victory over classy competition in Saturday Night’s Wheel Race Final was impressive. So too Mike Culling who again showed his class in lifting the OJ Memorial Under 17 Wheel Race Trophy for a second time – the first rider ever to achieve that feat.

Mother Nature gave us a day off yesterday with the cancellation of the New Year criterium at Ascot Park Hotel but we’re back in business this evening with the 82nd edition of the Gore to Invercargill Road Classic.

So while you are quietly working your way into 2012, spare us a thought. We in the cycling world aren’t quite so lucky.