Otago cyclists Daniel Beatson and Nathan Seddon continued their fierce rivalry at the national track cycling championships in Mosgiel near Dunedin last night.
The pair powered through the preliminary, round robin and quarterfinal phase of the Sprint Cup to claim spots in tonight's semifinals.
The sprint was the only elite
event at the first session of the six-day championships, with 16 competitors lining up in the seeding round.
Beatson and Seddon have long been rivals at provincial and national level and will meet in one sprint semifinal today.
Auckland rider Justin Grace and Dave Cresswell, of Canterbury, will contest the other semifinal.
Beatson and Seddon were members of the New Zealand sprint team who competed at the Oceania championships in Melbourne in December.
Seddon has had an erratic career since first being selected for New Zealand at the world championships in 1999.
He was left in the international wilderness for two years before a recall for the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games where he was a member of the team sprint combination who finished fourth.
A lower back injury curtailed Seddon's career until last December when he was selected as a member of the New Zealand sprint combination who finished second at the Oceania Games.
On Wednesday, the women's glamour event, the 3000m individual pursuit, will be contested.
World champion Sarah Ulmer has had a mortgage on the race, but her absence from the sport is likely to leave the way clear for Otago and New Zealand rider Dale Tye to claim the title.
Tye finished second in a recent World Cup race in Sydney.
Catherine Sell, who last week claimed the Women's Tour of New Zealand road title, is also a starter in the event.
- NZPA
