Olympic rowing champion Hamish Bond has been left out of Cycling New Zealand's squad for next month's Track World Cup in Cambridge.
The 32-year-old recently made the switch from the road to the track in a bid to try medal in another sport at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Bond, who broke the resident record at last weekend's Waikato Bay of Plenty Centre Track Champs, was not considered for selection because he has never ridden in a competitive team pursuit.
The team is anchored by the three-time world champion sprint trio of Eddie Dawkins, Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster, with the female sprinters comprising national record holders Emma Cumming and Natasha Hansen.
The male endurance squad is built around the 2017 world champion silver medallists Nick Kergozou and Regan Gough, the 2016 individual pursuit world champion Jordan Kerby and four-time junior world champion Campbell Stewart. Making a return to the squad is the 2013 omnium world champion Aaron Gate after plying his trade on the professional road scene for the last two years.
The core of the female endurance squad is anchored by the Commonwealth Games silver medallists Rushlee Buchanan, Racquel Sheath, Kirstie James and Bryony Botha.
Making a return is Olympian Lauren Ellis, after the birth of her first child, while her fellow Rio teammate Jaime Nielsen, another new mum, has recently made her return to cycling.
Cycling New Zealand high-performance director Martin Barras said this is an important event for the team building towards the Olympics.
"It provides us with opportunities to sew up qualifying spots for February's World Championships," he added.
"It presents a clear opportunity to produce world-class performances as we work towards the worlds, and also as we set our sights towards Tokyo.
"We will also get the opportunity in the white-hot heat of competition to test our equipment, particularly our top-of-the-line wheels designed and manufactured by our partners Southern Spars.
"The World Cup offers our riders and our staff the chance to compete on a track we train on every day, in an environment we know and in front of friends, family and fans.
"It will also be a terrific spectacle because we know the level of competition will be outstanding and hopefully we can fill the place with Kiwi supporters."
Newshub.
