Injured cyclist to return to New Zealand

Injury has cut short the European training campaign for Commonwealth Games cycling medallist Eddie Dawkins.

The big Southland sprinter has not responded sufficiently to treatment following a crash at a meet in Tula near Moscow last week.

Dawkins is part of the BikeNZ sprint team that are training and competing in Europe for eight weeks, along with Aucklanders Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell and Palmerston North’s Simon van Velthooven. Southland-based Matt Archibald and Mitchell’s sister Henrietta join the group this week.

“Eddie had a heavy crash in Tula and suffered from general bruising, a sore shoulder and lost some skin,” said BikeNZ sprint head coach Justin Grace.

“He was very determined to ride at the weekend in Moscow because we had a team sprint event and there were only the three riders at the meet in Moscow. We put him off first and while he managed his lap it was clear that he was a long way from fully fit.

“On our return to our base in Germany we have had further medical checks and with only a month left of the campaign, the advice was that he would not make sufficient recovery in time to get any real benefit from the rest of our time here.

“Therefore we decided he would be better off back home to rest and recover before building up for our World Cup campaign later in the year.”

Van Velthooven has resumed light training after he crashed in their first track event in Germany last month.

Dawkins earned international acclaim in February when he was brought down in a spectacular five-man incident in the keirin final at the Manchester World Cup in February. He managed to get to his feet and run across the line for fifth despite his injuries.