The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) world junior track cycling championships in the historic Chinese city of Luoyang, which begin next week, will be a different sort of experience for sprinters Caitlin Kelly and Riley Faulkner and endurance rider Magnus Jamieson.
New Zealand has put together a women’s team sprint of Kelly, Faulkner and Jodie Blackwood.
Kelly and Blackwood roomed together last year when they were both first-year competitors at the event in Cali, Colombia.
Endurance rider Meg Baker had to be drafted into the squad to make up the numbers for the team sprint.
The trio performed exceptionally well, breaking the New Zealand record twice and finishing fifth
"We’re super excited to have three dedicated sprinters this year.
"It’s three people who are dedicated to sprinting so we can give it our all," Kelly said.
"I’m really excited about how the team sprint is going to play out.
"I enjoy the team sprint because you get to share that happiness and success with so many people.
"Growing up I played all the team sports and sometimes you miss that in an individual sport.
"We’ve got a male sprinter (Alex Schuler) who is in the squad this year and we are all a really tight-knit team.
"We are all best friends and he joins in on all the girly activities.
"It’s going to be really cool to know that I’ve got their backs and they’ve got mine."
Kelly will move from the starting position to third wheel, the finisher, for this year’s championships, something which she is excited about.
First-year junior Faulkner recently broke the New Zealand under-19 flying 200m all-comers record at a track series in Cambridge.
"I’m an explosive rider, which is why I got the start last year, but I’m more of a big gear, long-distance rider and then Jodie can have that smooth ride and send me off for the final lap."
Those with at least a passing interest in Southland cycling will have noticed the gap in this story, and will probably understand why.
Kelly returned home from Colombia 12 months ago with an historic bronze medal from the keirin.
It was Cycling New Zealand’s first sprinting medal at the event for a decade.
A year on and Kelly would likely have been one of the favourites for the fast and furious keirin, but a mountainbiking accident on the Central Otago Rail Trail this year has made for a very different sort of build-up.
There has been a lot of support from her family, friends and longtime coach Sid Cumming, as well as from G-Force club mates and the SBS Bank Academy Southland as she has rebuilt her confidence on the bike.
"When I crashed initially, I was like, what is this going to mean?
"I have got quite a bounce-back type attitude.
"My coach was actually around at the time in Dunedin and he said you know, I don’t actually see this being a problem, I just think it’s going to make you work even harder to get what you want," Kelly said.
A year on from his junior worlds debut in Colombia, Jamieson rates himself a much stronger rider and he is hoping to enjoy the experience after a big winter of training.
Jamieson, who has been coached by Christchurch-based Cycling NZ junior worlds coach Andrew Williams, said the men’s endurance squad’s focus was the team pursuit.
"We’ll get to know our other events just before we leave, but we’ve agreed as a team that our focus will be on the team pursuit.
"It’s the first race for us and were going to go all out and try and smash it."
Like Kelly, Jamieson has been utilising the mental training by Academy Southland’s Jason McKenzie to combat any nerves he is feeling about competing on the international stage.
"The only pressure I’ll be feeling is the pressure I put on myself.
"It’s normal to have nerves, you can expect them and accept them and you have the tools to deal with them.
"I’d like to come back with a medal, but I just want to do well in whatever race I do.
"It’s about learning and coming back a better bike rider."
The NZ team competing at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Luoyang, August 21-25, is:
Female: Meg Baker (Christchurch), Jodie Blackwood (Cambridge), Riley Faulkner (Invercargill), Caitlin Kelly (Invercargill). Male: Lucas Bhimy (Auckland), Matthew Davidson (Christchurch), Magnus Jamieson (Invercargill), Daniel Morton (Auckland), Bernard Pawson (Auckland), Alex Schuler (Cambridge).
