Cycling: NZ going all-out at worlds

Hayden Godfrey will go to Australia next week. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand will mount their biggest-ever campaign at the UCI world track cycling championships next month.

BikeNZ yesterday selected an 18-strong squad to prepare, with 16 to ride at Copenhagen during March 24-28.

The competition for places has meant the selectors have chosen a wider training group that will be pruned.

The squad will go into camp in Invercargill at the end of this month for three weeks before departing for Europe.

BikeNZ national coach Tim Carswell said the focus is for selected riders to challenge for medals in their targeted events.

"We are keen to build on the success from last year in Poland where we gained three medals, the most we have achieved at any elite world championships before," Carswell said.

"This is a huge campaign and a massive effort to take 16 riders to Europe with support staff and we are grateful to the support from Sparc so we can continue to build towards the Commonwealth Games later this year and on to London 2012 and beyond."

The squad includes last year's men's medal-winning team pursuit squad with Sam Bewley returning from competing with his new Team Radio Shack with Lance Armstrong and Jesse Sergent (Trek Livestrong) after competing in the Tour of Qatar.

The selectors have also named 2008 omnium world champion Hayden Godfrey in the squad. The Christchurch rider was knocked off his bike while training and the injuries he sustained were such that he could not compete in last week's RaboPlus New Zealand Championships.

Godfrey will head to Australia next week along with Tom Scully, Myron Simpson, Shane Archbold and Marc Ryan where they are to compete in several high profile track events in Melbourne and Bendigo.

The women's endurance squad is headed by individual pursuit world champion Alison Shanks and includes national scratch race champion Rushlee Buchanan, points race champion Lauren Ellis and other members of the women's medal winning pursuit squad Kaytee Boyd (Auckland) and Jaime Nielsen.

The newcomer is Levin's Gemma Dudley after the teenager impressed at the national championships. The 19-year-old won four medals at the junior world track championships two years ago.

There are five selected for the men's sprint squad with four to travel to Copenhagen, led by the in-form Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill).

New Zealand's world championships squad:

* Women: Kaytee Boyd (Auckland), Rushlee Buchanan (Te Awamutu), Gemma Dudley (Levin), Lauren Ellis (Hinds), Jaimie Nielsen (Hamilton), Alison Shanks (Dunedin).
* Men: Sam Bewley (Rotorua), Eddie Dawkins (Invercargill), Hayden Godfrey (Christchurch), Wes Gough (Waipukurau), Peter Latham (Te Awamutu), Ethan Mitchell (Auckland), Marc Ryan (Timaru), Tom Scully (Invercargill), Jesse Sergent (Feilding), Adam Stewart (Christchurch), Simon van Velthooven (Palmerston North), Sam Webster (Auckland).

- NZPA