Cycling: In pursuit of cycling's next level

Team New Zealand compete in the Men's Team Pursuit Qualifying. Photo / Quinn Rooney.

Pursuiter Sam Bewley wants to leave on a high, but to do that he knows he and his mates are going to have to find 3.5s from somewhere in the next four months.

Bewley, a key component in the medal-contending team pursuit, is quitting the track after the London Olympics. It is an open secret that he will sign with Australia's recently formed professional road team Green Edge, though he is reluctant to give anything away.

"I can't really say anything. Hopefully, but at the moment I'm focusing on the track," said the 24-year-old. "It's only a couple of months before we're into track camp for the Games. Up until then it's pretty much the focus."

During that camp they are going to have to find some extra speed from somewhere if they want to be in the final race of the pursuit programme. If the world track cycling champs in Melbourne this week have proved anything, it's that the rest of the world is looking up at the programmes run by Great Britain and Australia.

"They showed over here they're another level. We're 3.5s off the pace of the final and that's a long way over 4kms. That's a lot of time to find, but you've got to stay optimistic," Bewley, from Rotorua, said.

"The team is tracking well. We're riding faster and faster. We didn't ride the fastest time we've ever ridden here, but 3m 57s is still our second or third-fastest time we've ever done.

"We're going to keep working hard towards our goal. It hasn't changed. We want to go over there and become Olympic champions."

Reality might just bite. It seems likely that New Zealand will be in a fight for bronze with Russia.

While Bewley, Aaron Gate, Marc Ryan and Westley Gough beat the Russians in Melbourne, they were without Ivan Kovalev, who was hit by a car while training in Sydney.

Balancing that is the fact New Zealand's strongest rider, Jesse Sergent, was unavailable for these championships as he fulfilled commitments with RadioShack-Nissan-Trek.

"In the last couple of years we've had Jesse who's been a lot stronger than the rest of us.

"He's going to make a difference when he comes back. He brings a good morale to the team and good confidence."

Bewley will miss the track and hasn't ruled out making a comeback for Rio de Janeiro, though that will more likely come on the road.

The switch from road to track is becoming harder as the roles in pursuit become more specialised.

"It's changed so much in the last couple of years. It's getting so fast. Four years ago everyone was trying to break the four-minute barrier. Now everyone's starting to talk 3m 50s. It's getting so fast and so specific you need time on the track and you need to train specifically for the event.

"You can't really go away, climb up mountains and expect to hop back on the track and ride 3m 50s."

His income will come now from the roads of Europe. When his former Radio Shack team merged with Leopard-Trek, Bewley's contract wasn't renewed, forcing him to look elsewhere.

A new start with Green Edge will hopefully bring new fortune on the road, but he acknowledges it will take some time before he can go wheel to wheel consistently with the rock stars of the sport. At 24, he has time on his side.

"They say on the road it's about 30, maybe even a little bit older. You look at Lance Armstrong; he was winning the Tour de France when he was 33," Bewley said. "When you move on to the road it takes a couple of years to get those miles into your legs, to learn how to race for three weeks. It takes years to build that endurance up and that's why you see the guys that have been doing it for a long time at the top of the sport."

Europe remains the Mecca for road cycling and Bewley says it takes some getting used to.

"When you race in New Zealand you get on the start line with 30-40 other guys. It's easy to ride at the front and everyone lets you ride where you want to go.

"Over there you've got 220 guys who can win the race and all want to be at the front. It takes time to learn your trade before you can step up to the grand tours."