Track cyclist Shane Archbold gave his Olympic hopes a boost with a strong performance in winning the penultimate stage of the Tour de la Dordogne in France today.
The 23-year-old took out the individual time trial, the only rider to go under 14 minutes for the lumpy 10.6km circuit around Bergerac in the south-west of France.
Archbold, who will contest the six-discipline omnium in London next month, clocked 13.56.76 to win by more than five seconds from Frenchman Christophe Laporte with Olympic teammate Aaron Gate third in 14:06.95.
"Shane has been training very hard with some big miles and was smoking today," BikeNZ team manager Stephen Connell said.
The team complete the four-stage tour with a challenging final 160km hilly stage to Perigueux tomorrow, before the full team assemble for their final track preparation camp before London.
The women's endurance track squad has already arrived in Bordeaux after training in the United States, while the sprint squad are currently training and racing in Germany.