Dawkins tops Track Cycling World Cup rankings

Southland sprinter Eddie Dawkins has earned the award is leading sprinter after the completion of the UCI Track World Cup circuit for 2013-2014.

Dawkins gained two fourth placings and a 10th placing to top the competitive group of male sprinters after the three-round World Cup, with the final event finishing in Mexico yesterday.

It marked an excellent summer for Dawkins, who emerged as the country’s fastest rider after topping qualifiers at the UCI Tier One qualifying event at Invercargill followed by a national record of 9.907 at the Oceania Championship.

He again went under the 10 second barrier to be third fastest in qualifying in Mexico at the weekend, beaten by teammate Sam Webster for the race for the bronze medal.

“Eddie has been the form rider this summer and also showed real consistency at the top level,” BikeNZ Head Coach Dayle Cheatley said.

“He has a key role in the team sprint also and is thriving under our new coach, Anthony Peden.

“Like the rest of our sprint group, he is still very young in sprint cycling terms at 23, and his next key development is to convert that raw speed into medals consistently in the match racing phase of sprint.”

Olympic medallist Simon van Velthooven has finished third highest overall in World Cup rankings in the 1000m time trial, while Tom Scully and Patrick Bevin were third after their victory in the Madison yesterday.

BikeNZ expect to announce an initial squad late this week for next month’s world championships, before awaiting final confirmation of quota spots from the UCI.

The top New Zealand rankings from the World Cup series are:
Sprint: Eddie Dawkins 3, Matt Archibald 9.
Keirin: Simon van Velthooven 5, Dawkins 6.
1000m time trial: Van Velthooven 3.
Team Sprint: New Zealand 5.
Team Pursuit: New Zealand 8.
Points: Tom Scully 4.
Madison: Scully, Patrick Bevin 3.