Gosford cyclist Phil Thuaux (pronounced Talks) will attempt to put the heat on Olympic selectors when he lines up in a specially arranged 4000m individual pursuit at Revolution 3 next Thursday night at Vodafone Arena.

Thuaux, who needs to beat 4 minutes 20 seconds to be considered for selection, will join with Athens Olympic gold medallist Anna Meares in specially arranged Olympic qualifying attempts at Rev 3. Meares needs to ride quicker than 11.77 seconds for a flying 200m to secure her Games berth after missing the world championships following a horror crash at the Los Angeles World Cup in January.

Rev 3 athlete director and former Australian cyclist of the year David McKenzie said the riders had requested optimum conditions for their Olympic qualifying attempts.

“Obviously it is winter in Melbourne and the riders prefer the temperature to be closer to 25 degrees than 20, so we will be cranking up the heater at Vodafone Arena to get it to 25 degrees and give Phil and Anna the best possible chance of getting on the plane to Beijing.”

Thuaux, the reigning Oceania champion in the individual pursuit, needs to ride inside 4:20 for the 16-lap torture test in order to be considered for Olympic nomination.

The Central Coast endurance rider has a lifetime best of 4:23.0 set when winning the silver medal at the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney in November.

“I’ve never ridden at Vodafone Arena,” Thuaux said from Gosford where he works fulltime as a Gosford City Council engineer.

“However it’s only an hour’s flight and is in the same time zone, so it beats going overseas to try and get the time before the June 20 deadline.”

“After a lot of travel during the World Cup season I’ve been at home since March. It’s my longest block of dedicated training. I was racing every month with World Cups, the Oceania’s and Australian titles. I’ve had a longer foundation and better strength training so I’m feeling confident.”

Despite finishing a disappointing 17^th at the track world championships in Manchester, Thuaux’s consistent performances during the 2007-08 World Cup season ensured the 28-year-old finished the season ranked fifth in the world - a ranking that earned Australia an individual pursuit spot in Beijing. 

Combined with another spot courtesy of the ranking of the team pursuit squad, Australia is able to nominate two riders for the individual pursuit.

Thuaux was ranked number one in the world after the Los Angeles round, however a poorly timed illness on the eve of the Australian championships in February left him weakened during the end of the season.

Thuaux and Meares will join dual Athens gold medallist Ryan Bayley as the headline acts on the “Farewell to Beijing” themed Rev 3 bill.

The Australian team will depart soon after Revolution 3 for their pre-Beijing training camps in Germany and Italy.

Following on from the sell-out at Revolution 2 in December, the third installment of the Revolution series in Australia will be just as exciting and innovative.