It was a case of one Rotorua record breaker for another. National team pursuit team member Sam Bewley flew solo in the final race at the New Zealand track championships in Invercargill, aiming to take the 15km scratch race.
Despite a late surge from fellow NZ teammate Jesse Sergent with three laps to go, 20-year-old Bewley rallied hard to win in 17min 17.98 sec - erasing the name of fellow Rotorua cyclist Julian Dean from the record books.
"It was a pretty good one to end the championship, I guess," Bewley said.
After the euphoria of dislodging Dean's record, Bewley has turned his attentions to this month's UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester (March 26-30).
Vying for a spot in the four-man national team pursuit, competition remains fierce amongst the six-strong team. The sextet are taking part in a eight-day training camp in Invercargill under the tutelage of Bike NZ's national track coach Tim Carswell.
The team are set to travel to the French Riviera for a further 10 days of track work before heading to England for the championships.
After previously earning two silver medals on the UCI World Cup tour in as many months, Bewley still remains confident he can secure a spot in the side.
"I think I am at a pretty good stage for where we are in the campaign. I think by the time the world championships, I will be going as good as I can. Everyone here wants to be in the team pursuit.
"There's no mind games or anything stupid like that. We support each other through the tough times.
"Everyone is going so well, it could come down to something like a little cough on race day."
Aside from the personal satisfaction of securing a podium finish at the world championships, there is more at stake - an all-expenses trip to Beijing for August's Olympic Games.
While the smart money is on the pursuit team to make the grade, Bewley knows a top three finish in Manchester would seal the deal.
"It's up to the NZOC. It depends on how many spots they are allocating to cycling in the Olympics."
Despite two major events in this year's competition calendar, Bewley is confident the boys can handle the pressure. "There's still a lot of time between Olympics and the world championships. We'll be able to peak for both of them."
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