The 18-year-old is one of 13 riders selected, marking his debut on the international stage, and the first time Cycling New Zealand has been able to select a junior team since the start of the pandemic.
Eager to get a taste of global competition, he hopes to compete in the team pursuit, scratch race and madison.
"It’s an awesome opportunity," Watson-Palmer said.
"It’s been a big long-term goal of mine, so it’s really cool to finally make that happen."
Watson-Palmer has reached national podiums consistently over the past two years, including recent wins in the under-19 scratch race and elite team pursuit at the national championships in Cambridge.
"I think the main goal for me going into the event was, I really wanted to win at least one national title because I knew I was capable of getting it ... winning the race gave me a lot of confidence."
After a dabbling in "a bit of running, a bit of triathlon", he picked up road racing in 2018 then track cycling in 2019 after boarding at St Peter’s in Cambridge, “which has a velodrome pretty much on the back doorstep”, his father, Daryl, said.
Naturally competitive and determined to push himself, Watson-Palmer soon found himself competing at a national level in both road and track events.
"I love cycling, I like being outdoors, I like endurance sports — that’s just my kind of thing."
Previously coached by Tim Carswell, head coach of Belgium’s national track team, and now under the guidance of Commonwealth Games gold medallist Glen Thomson, Watson-Palmer is in the midst of a jam-packed year of cycling.
Next week, he will compete in the New Zealand road championships in Hokitika, before heading to Belgium for a seven-week European road racing campaign.
He will then return to prepare for the world track championships, where the goal is to win a medal.
He has also recently been picked up by a professional road cycling team, MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project.
"They’ve selected me as a development rider ... they help progress junior and upcoming cyclists ... so it’s good to have them as support this year," he said.
By Lucy Wormald
