New Zealand dealt blow ahead of track worlds

New Zealand's track cycling team has been dealt a blow just days away from the start of this year's Track World Championships in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, with Tim Gudsell likely to be sidelined. The Kiwi rider has been struck down with a case of the flu which has affected several European teams in the leadup to the event, which gets underway on the Spanish island on Thursday night.

Gudsell made the announcement himself that he would not be fit to race in this weekend's team pursuit.

The Pacific nation's national track coach Terry Gyde told NZPA it will field an inexperienced team pursuit line-up in Gudsell's absence, which could end up being the youngest pursuit team in the world. Gyde will pick four riders from Marc Ryan, Jesse Sargent, Westley Gough, Sam Bewley and Peter Latham to form the pursuit team.

The nation's campaign at the worlds gets underway on Friday when Fiona Carswell and Jocelyn Rastrick contest the team sprint.