Australia sends its ‘A-Team’ to UCI track world cup in Cambridge

LONDON Olympic silver medallist Michael Hepburn will officially return to the Australian track cycling team in New Zealand this week as he begins his road to Rio.

LONDON Olympic silver medallist Michael Hepburn will officially return to the Australian track cycling team in New Zealand this week as he begins his road to Rio.

Australia has sent its ‘A Team’ for both the men’s and women’s team pursuits at the second UCI track world cup of the season which will see Hepburn race on the velodrome for the first time since the 2013 world championships.

He is joined in Cambridge by teammates from London Jack Bobridge, Glenn O’Shea and Alex Edmondson as well as former world champions Luke Davison and Mitch Mulhern.

But it won’t amount to a full-blown showdown with Great Britain which is fielding a young and inexperienced team pursuit, missing superstar Bradley Wiggins and two-time Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy who is having back surgery.

Still, the Aussies will be keen to post a fast time and make a statement with eight months left to the Games.

“Any time you line up at a world cup you give it best shot, particularly when you have your best formations,” Cycling Australia performance director Kevin Tabotta said from New Zealand Monday.

Jack Bobridge, Glenn, O'Shea, Rohan Dennis and Michael Hepburn with silver medals at the London Olympics.

“What we haven’t established yet is how fast the track is and we’ll get a closer idea of where exactly the athletes are at in a couple of days closer to the competition.

“It’s good to have Michael (Hepburn) here, he’s been in camp with us for four weeks and is making really good progress so this is his first test.”

Australia’s team is even stronger in the women’s team pursuit with reigning world champions Ashlee Ankudinoff, Melissa Hoskins, Annette Edmondson and Amy Cure combining in their rainbow jerseys along with Isabella King for the December 4-6 meet.

The team has been training in Perth and Adelaide for the past month and will be the ones to beat in New Zealand.

Matthew Glaetzer headlines Australia’s sprint stocks with Nathan Hart, Pete Lewis, Jacob Schmid and young gun Pat Constable who is also in contention for Rio selection.

Anna Meares, Stephanie Morton and Kaarle McCulloch will all racing together in New Zealand as coach Gary West continues to search for the best team sprint combination for the Olympics.

They will come up against two-time world champion sprinter Becky James who returns to Great Britain’s squad after missing more than 12 months with a knee injury.

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Originally published as Australia sends its ‘A-Team’ to UCI track world cup in Cambridge