Chch cyclists frustrated in pursuit trial

Press, 19 March 1984, Page 34

Chch cyclists frustrated in pursuit trial

By

Jane Davidson

Craig Adair, Murray Steele and Brian Fowler, of Canterbury, have returned to Christchurch frustrated and disappointed after an unsuccessful week-end attempt at Wanganui by the national pursuit cycling team to qualify for the Olympic Games.

A makeshift team of Adair, Steele, Anthony Cuff (Palmerston North) and Barry Prior (West Coast North Island) recorded 4min 355, in a last-ditch effort on Saturday night.

Adair and Steele were not originally scheduled to ride, but a bad crash on Friday involving Fowler and Graeme Miller (Auckland) enforced changes to the line-up. Adair was called in for Fowler, and Cuff for Miller, with Andrew Whitford (Waikato) and Prior completing the quartet. Rain fell at Cooks Gardens all day Saturday, and by 9 p.m., when a decision was made to ride, Whitford had left to return home, and Steele replaced him.

Given the bad weather, the time, five seconds outside the required mark, was not all that bad. Adair dropped from the head of the bunch after nearly half the scheduled 10 laps, leaving Steele in his wake to continue the chase, but the

early pace was not sustained. The failure to better 4min 30s means it is highly unlikely that a New Zealand team will be nominated, but Cuff, Miller, Adair and Fowler will probably still ride at Los Angeles. Cuff has bettered the qualifying time for the individual pursuit — he is officially required to twice go under the mark, but his second best time was a mere one-tenth of a second out. Miller can expect a nomination for the 50km points race, and Adair in the kilometre.

Fowler already has a nomination for the 100 km road race. In a way it is his second choice, for he prefers the track, but he cannot afford to miss a nomination altogether. However, a final decision by him to ride on the road event would virtually kill the last hope of assembling a pursuit team, for the coach, Mr Wayne Thorpe, thinks Fowler would be a key man, and Adair is of the same opinion.

Steele, who was meant to have made an attempt on the national sprint record at Cooks Gardens, will try his luck, probably at Denton Park, in the next week. If he breaks the record, he will be nominated by the cycling body, but will still have to satisfy the Olympic selectors.