Southland cyclists ready for NZ Champs on home velodrome boards
“We are so lucky to have a facility like this in Invercargill, enabling our riders to race a national championships at home. We owe a lot to the people who had the foresight to build this velodrome.”
By Eugene Bonthuys
The nation’s top track talent will be taking to the boards of the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome over the coming week as Cycling Southland hosts the Track National Championships.
The event will take place from March 1 to 5, bringing together riders from across New Zealand, ranging from the elites to under-15s as they compete for national titles.
With 177 riders taking part over five days of racing, it promises to be a very exciting event, with the morning sessions starting at 9am, and the evening sessions at 5pm.
The event is hosted in rotation between Invercargill and Cambridge, with Cycling Southland’s major events coordinator Glen Thomson saying the value of hosting the event in Invercargill cannot be overstated.
“We are so lucky to have a facility like this in Invercargill, enabling our riders to race a national championships at home. We owe a lot to the people who had the foresight to build this velodrome,” he said.
It presents a great opportunity for riders to gain exposure to national-level racing without the costs associated with travel and accommodation, removing a potential barrier to participation.
“It is not just riders in Southland who benefit, but also riders from Otago and Canterbury, who do not have to travel to Cambridge to race on an indoor velodrome,” said Thomson.
With the New Zealand national team currently competing in the Nation’s Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, and some of the top endurance track riders already racing with their professional road teams overseas, the Elite fields are fairly open, creating opportunities for some fresh faces to step onto the podium.
“Without the outright favourites, the racing should be very open and exciting. It is a great opportunity for riders who are not currently part of the national programme to shine, and get themselves noticed,” said Thomson.
The event is also very significant for riders in the U19 category, who will be looking to stake a claim for selection to the Junior World Championships later this year.
There are a couple of Southlanders who must fancy their chances of getting noticed, including the likes of Marshall Erwood, Magnus Jamieson, and Caitlin Kelly, and having home track advantage will certainly be to their advantage.
For many riders, the event will also serve as a stepping stone to the Oceania Track Championships taking place in Brisbane at the end of March.
More information on the event, including the schedule, can be found on the Cycling New Zealand website.