Hayden Roulston has suffered a setback in his bid to ride in Rio.
Roulston retired from seven years as a professional road cyclist last year in pursuit of one more Olympic medal. But in a disappointing start to the Track Nationals, the 35-year-old posted a DNF in individual pursuit qualifying.
After winning two golds at the Oceania Championships last October, Nationals was a chance for Roulston to continue his push for selection to the world team.
Not finishing was disappointing not only for Roulston but also for the selectors like Dale Cheatley.
"It's no secret the individual pursuit here is one of those opportunities to put your hand up. Unfortunately we can't gauge that with him. Been training well last few months, so we'll have to have a bit of a chat as to what went wrong today."
Roulston won silver and bronze in Beijing then turned his attention to the road before deciding to return to the track last year in a bid for another medal in Rio.
He has the rest of the week to prove he's still got what it takes, which BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliot says is more than adequate.
"It's about stepping up and when you don't have a good performance. It's about stepping up to the next one and making sure you show a good one."
But there's fierce competition within the New Zealand endurance programme. A number of riders set personal bests in the individual pursuit qualifying, including Pieter Bulling, who was the second-fastest qualifier and nearly six seconds inside his best time.
Bulling is part of the world champion pursuit team, but is well aware that team may not stay together.
"I want the fastest team on the line. It would be good to have that team together, but I want the fastest team on the day. So it may not be the same team as last year."
It's a good problem for BikeNZ to have, especially with Rio just six months away.
Newshub.
