The buildup for Beijing begins this week for New Zealand's top cyclists with Olympic qualification points up for grabs at the Oceania championships in Invercargill.
Hot from his Tour of Southland win last week, Hayden Roulston will be leading the charge for New Zealand on the track against
a formidable Australian team at the five-day event starting tomorrow.
Other top track prospects for New Zealand include Commonwealth games gold medalist Greg Henderson, in the Madison and the points race, the men's team pursuit and Catherine Cheatley and Joanne Kiesanowski in the women's points race.
After the championships, the New Zealand track team will go into camp before they head to Sydney at the end of the month for the first World Cup Track event of the season.
The Australian team comprises a who's who of current and former Olympic and Commonwealth Games medalists and world champions.
Ryan Bayley is a double gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, Ben Kersten a gold medalist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Scott Sunderland the 2006 world time trial champion.
The Meares sisters, Anna a gold medalist and world record holder and Kerrie a national title holder, are top class riders while the ageless Kathy Watt is an Olympic gold and silver medalist from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The Oceania championships include individual road time trials at Winton tomorrow, road races out of Gore on Sunday and track racing in between at the new ILT Velodrome, New Zealand's only fully covered facility.
- NZPA
