Australian national endurance coach Tim Decker has tasted gold medal success in the team pursuit at national championships, world championship and the 2014 Commonwealth Games levels. In 2016, Decker is aiming to add an Olympic Games gold medal to his trophy cabinet. First though, he will look to deliver the team to a third world title in London next week at the Track Worlds under his stewardship that begun following the London Olympic Games.
Four years on from the silver medal ride in London, Rohan Dennis is the only member of the team not going to Rio on the track. In last the Olympic cycle, Australia's team was relatively shallow in quantity not in quality. For Rio, the number of riders up for possible selection is in double, rather than single figures.
"I think we have a group capable of actually winning a gold medal so I am not going to make any decision on the team 'as soon as possible'. The guys need to be, as well as myself, used to feeling a little bit uncomfortable until the time to get comfortable," Decker told Cyclingnews of his approach to the Rio Olympics with the team pursuit squad.
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The squad's depth is made evident in the fact that multiple track world champions Jack Bobridge and Alex Edmondson will both be absent from the London Worlds. Their replacements are well and truly up to the task.
"In that period of Glasgow we were in a building phase so I knew a few of these younger athletes were starting to come through but needed another year or two," Decker added of the squad's depth following on from the 2014 gold medal ride at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
"Some of them might need another year. They could potentially miss out on the team and may need another year. I knew that there was a younger group coming and I knew what sort of talent they had. We've put a lot of work to get them to his level so far and we'll keep working to get them to another level."
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