Cycling: Ryan dominates weekend's racing

Marc Ryan (Timaru) proved he is a true Olympian when he dominated the elite men's events at the New Zealand Cup on Wheels in Dunedin at the weekend.

He won the 2000m scratch race, the 1500m handicap for the New Zealand Cup on Wheels, the 80 lap points race on the track and the criterium on the road.

It was a remarkable performance because he had returned from the World Cup meet in Beijing earlier in the week and was still feeling the effects of jet lag when he raced in the scorching conditions on Saturday.

Ryan (26) won a silver medal in the team's pursuit in Beijing and was fifth in the Madison.

The two outstanding performances at the weekend were the points race and the criterium when he outclassed the field.

In the points race he lapped the field a remarkable four times. The only exceptions were Timaru team-mate Shane Archibald, who was lapped twice, and veteran Mark Spessot (Dunedin), three times.

But despite this success he does not see himself switching from the teams and individual pursuit to become a points race rider.

"We've always had Greg Henderson as our points race rider," Ryan said. "The team pursuit is our No 1 goal and it is pretty hard to swap over to the points race at a World Cup or world championships.

"The points race falls on the night before the teams pursuit. We haven't really got a points race specialist now that Greg is concentrating on the road.

"We are concentrating on the teams pursuit because it is our best medal prospect at the world championships in Poland in March."

He was helped in the task by his Timaru team-mate Shane Archibald, who is also a member of the BikeNZ high performance squad.

Archibald (19) sped away from the bunch after Ryan had made the break and then waited for Ryan to catch him on two occasions. The two then rode together to get another lap on the bunch.

It helped Archibald get two laps on the field while his superior team-mate notched up four.

The track performance at the Mosgiel velodrome was even more remarkable because Ryan is used to riding indoors on the track and has seldom raced outdoors on a track in recent years.

"It was hard in the wind," he said."It is not like riding indoors."

The cyclist Ryan looked up to when young was 1998 Commonwealth Games points champion Glen Thomson.

"They are my family friends," he said. "My highlight in those days was coming to Dunedin to stay with the Thomsons."

Ryan and Thomson applied pressure early to dominate the criterium and lapped the field after 30min.

Ryan was the aggressor and Thomson had the experience and skill to stay with him.

It was a remarkable performance by Thomson (35) who again proved what a tough competitor he is.

Ryan beat Thomson by 70m after the final lap sprint and youngster Tom Scully (Invercargill), who made a brave effort to bridge the gap and rode on his own for the last 9min, was third. He was the only rider not lapped by Ryan and Thomson.

It is not surprising that Ryan should become one of New Zealand's elite cyclists because his father, Colin Ryan, was one of the top sprinters in the world 30 years ago and finished sixth in the world professional championships.

He also won the Australian keirin and sprint titles two years in a row at a time when Australia was one of the best cycling nations in the world.

Marc Ryan, who is coached by Damian Marsh, won a bronze medal in the teams pursuit at the Beijing Olympics.

It was his second Olympics after finishing tenth in the teams pursuit at Athens in 2004.

Ryan intends to get back into strength work over the next month before tapering for the world championships in Poland at the end of March.