Olympics: Riders enter new life cycle

There is life after Sarah Ulmer after all -- New Zealand cycling might be poised to ride into a new golden age.

The journey gathered momentum in Beijing though after New Zealand's track team secured two medals at the Laoshan Velodrome -- the first time black bikes have parked up at the same Olympic podium.

Hayden Roulston, whose career was thought to be over two years ago after he was diagnosed with a heart defect, was the main beneficiary -- joining Gary Anderson and Ulmer as the only individuals to win track cycling metal on wood.

However, it is the transfusion of new or near new blood that provided BikeNZ with hope for a sport currently ruled by Britannia.

The team pursuit quartet came of age, never mind two are yet to celebrate their 21st birthdays.

Jesse Sergent, Sam Bewley and Westley Gough have time on their side while Marc Ryan and Roulston -- the old man at 27 years of age -- have supervised the transition from a squad that claimed bronze by simply staying upright at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to a genuine threat two years later.

New Zealand's quartet breached the previously impregnable four minute barrier for the 4000-metre test of endurance and synchronicity three times in the Chinese capital.

"We came here with the knowledge those guys had the ability to touch medals, reach for medals," said BikeNZ high performance manager Mark Elliott.

And he was quick to broaden the congratulations beyond the young guns.

Saddled with succeeding Ulmer in an event the Athens gold medallist reigned, Alison Shanks showed signs of becoming an adequate replacement.

Ranked seventh on arrival, the 25-year-old from Dunedin twice lowered her personal best to make the bronze medal ride in the individual pursuit.

"She may not have got a bit of hardware but that's huge for Ali, it shows her potential," Elliott said.

The next phase for BikeNZ is to implement programmes to somehow challenge Great Britain, whose domination at the velodrome was almost complete.

They were denied just three of the 10 available gold medals; a success rate with drastic repercussions for some of the countries that missed out.

"They've talked about how their funding will be cut because of their lack of results," Carswell said, without naming names.

"Australia? I probably can't say," he smiled.

Australia, won just a silver medal on the track, a big dip from their five golds in Athens.

France, Germany and the Netherlands also lost prestige -- and probably money -- at Laoshan.

BikeNZ will not be among the penalised, and can justifiably claim a funding boost on the back of their track programme.

It will never equate to the millions of lottery money directed to the British, though head track coach Tim Carswell was philosophical about the inequality, saying it simply spurred his organisation on.

"The only way anyone will be able to compete with them now is to make sure they're doing every single possible thing right."

Central to that is the nurturing of the team pursuit squad -- and the development of the next generation.

"We're quite well aware we have some very talented guys here," Carswell said.

The danger is their performance might now make them marked men -- a target for European or US-based pro teams. And if signed up, their track commitments are in danger of being compromised.

"That certainly happened this year, we didn't have access to Tim Gudsell heading to the Olympics," Carswell said.

"We've already talked about plans to make sure we can look after these guys really well."

BikeNZ also intend to create a training base in northern Europe -- probably on the flat lands of Holland or Belgium -- to allow the squad to build endurance.

But even if the current crop snare contracts, Carswell was confident BikeNZ's junior programme could ultimately fill any voids.

"Our junior programme this year was one of the most successful ever. We won six medals at the junior worlds.

"These guys are the top dogs at the moment but there's a strong group right under them, which is exactly what we want."

There was no doubt track was the top dog among the cycling contingent after Sarah Walker missed the podium in the women's BMX final, finishing fourth.

None of the five road racers were expected to feature, and did not, while mountainbikers Rosara Joseph (9th) and Kashi Leuchs (24th) both had health issues before being outlasted by quality fields in furnace-like heat.