Hayles states his case for Beijing selection  Rob Hayles, one of
the grand old men of British track racing, strengthened his case
for selection in the Olympic track squad with victory in
yesterday's national road race title, escaping late in the
127-mile race around Helmsley in North Yorkshire to give the
Halfords-Bike Hut team a clean sweep over the weekend.  The
35-year-old, a double medallist in Athens in the team pursuit
and the Madison, is no longer an automatic choice due to the
emergence of younger riders and he needed a major win to boost
his case for a place in the Beijing team, to be announced on
July 14. "This can only be good for my chances of Olympic
selection," he said, well aware he had been watched by the
performance director of the Olympic squad, Dave Brailsford.  It
was also a personal triumph after his exclusion from the world
track championships in March due to an abnormal blood test; he
was cleared of any wrongdoing in a British Cycling investigation
but the incident still rankles. Hayles