Henderson considers Games pullout

Greg Henderson. Photo / Bay of Blenty Times

Leading New Zealand road cyclist Greg Henderson is considering joining his professional teammates in pulling out of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

A short entry on his twitter website page suggested the 33-year-old has second thoughts about competing at his fourth Games and adding to his four medals, which include a gold in the 2002 track points race.

"Seriously starting to reconsider my Commonwealth Games participation," Henderson wrote, making him the first New Zealand athlete to cast doubts over his attendance since a plague of problems at the athletes' village were exposed this week.

His comment coincided with news overnight (NZT) that four members of his British Team Sky team have pulled out of the Games, due to start on October 3.

British quartet Geraint Thomas, Peter Kennaugh, Ian Stannard and Ben Swift cited health concerns for withdrawing and BikeNZ high performance manager Mark Elliott suspected the New Zealander was feeling the pressure.

"When the rest of his team's making those decisions then it's only natural that, in that social context, he's thinking about it himself," Elliott told Radio Sport.

"It's only natural. Any athlete going into an environment like Delhi, which is so challenging, it's only natural they have concerns."

Elliott said he would try to contact Henderson today to discuss concerns he may have.

David Brailsford, the principal of Team Sky as well as performance director of British Cycling, denied the riders had been instructed to pull out, insisting the decision had been left to the individuals.

"Given the situation they have found themselves in with the Commonwealth Games, nobody would blame the athletes for staying away, but there is no instruction from Team Sky on this issue," Brailsford said.

Henderson, third overall at the recent Tour of Britain, was sixth in the road race at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

His medals all came on the track, comprising a points race gold and team pursuit bronze at the 2002 Games in Manchester, and bronze in those same events at Kuala Lumpur four years earlier.

Cycling appeared to be causing more consternation than other sports among the New Zealand athletes contingent.

Medal prospect Jesse Sergent of Feilding said he would put faith in the New Zealand Olympic Committee to make the right decision about safety at Delhi.

Sergent, 22, will compete on both the track and road - the latter in the 40km individual time-trial - and was conscious of the health implications.

"There's always going to be a risk in a country like India regarding disease and health and for a sport like cycling where there's a high risk of crashing, so it's a concern," Sergent told The Manawatu Standard.

Welsh world and Olympic track pursuit champion Thomas was wary of the mosquito-borne illness dengue fever, along with poor sanitary conditions in the village.

"It's a massive disappointment first and foremost but with the hygiene and the risk of getting ill, it was a massive risk," Thomas said.

"I have been worried about the situation in New Delhi for some time, particularly since the dengue fever situation became apparent a couple of weeks ago.

"Then, just recently, we have seen the pictures from the village and that made my mind up for me."

The decision of the four British riders has severely weakened cycling events in New Delhi, already been weakened by the absence of Olympic gold medallists Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins.

- NZPA