"His analysis at the Manchester world championships helped our cyclists perform better,'' team manager Craig Adair told the Otago Daily Times from Christchurch yesterday.
Palmer's scientific analysis helped lift standards and has made New Zealand a major force in world cycling.
"Craig will be with us at Beijing. His influence will be ongoing and should help New Zealand cyclists reach the podium again at London in 2012,'' Adair said.
"English cycling has used detailed analysis for a number of years and we have been behind the 8-ball. But not now.''
Palmer (32), the personal coach of Olympic cyclists Alison Shanks and Hayden Roulston (Ashburton) became the sports scientist to BikeNZ's elite cyclists last November.
"My job is to monitor what the cyclist does in racing and training and analyse his progress,'' Palmer said.
The key element in Palmer's work is to measure the power output of the cyclist in training and racing. This is done by screwing a special $5000 crankshaft on to the bike.
"It gives us an objective analysis that we give back to the cyclists,'' Palmer said. "We can eliminate other factors such as equipment and the environment.''
Palmer is able to monitor the training intensity and give this information back to the coaches.
"Sports science adds icing to the cake,'' Palmer said. "It provides extra information to the coaches, reduces the risks of mistakes, and helps the cyclist perform more consistently.''
Palmer uses video analysis to let cyclists know where they can make improvements and gives guidelines for warm-ups.
Adair believes New Zealand has the best prepared cycling team it has ever put into a major international event like the Olympics.
"We'll be right up there at the cusp, with the elite of the world,'' Adair said. "I expect our team to come up more quickly than other countries over the next few months.
"Our environment is positive... There is no niggle in the team and we all get on well. A good performance from one cyclist will lift the performances of the others.''
Palmer competed in both athletics and cycling when he was growing up in Hastings and was coached by former Otago athletes Allan and Sylvia Potts, who had an important influence on his coaching philosophy.
The other important influence was 1984 Olympic champion Joaquim Cruz (Brazil) who visited New Zealand for coaching seminars late last year.
