Nine-strong BikeNZ squad to contest junior world championships

BikeNZ has selected a nine strong team to contest the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Glasgow later this year.

It is an all-male team that will venture to the championships in the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodome from 7-11 August.

Alexandra’s Liam Aitcheson leads the team following his outstanding silver medal as part of the team pursuit at the junior world championships hosted in Invercargill late last year.

He is one of three riders back from the New Zealand team last year, joined by sprinters Jeremy Presbury (Invercargill) and Zac Williams (Auckland). Presbury was fourth in the keirin final and along with Williams part of the team sprint that finished fourth.

Oceania Championship scratch race winner Regan Gough (Central Hawkes Bay) gets his first chance, following in the footsteps of his Olympic medal-winning cousin Westley Gough.

The squad will have their first training camp in Invercargill next month and hope to complete a final build-up overseas ahead of the championships in the new velodrome that will be used for next year’s Commonwealth Games.

The team is:

Men’s Endurance: Regan Gough (Central Hawkes Bay), Alex Hooper (Ashburton), Connor Stead (Christchurch), Josh Haggerty (Invercargill) , Liam Aitcheson (Alexandra).

Men’s Sprint:  Jeremy Presbury (Invercargill), Zac Williams (Auckland), Quinn Karwowski  (Blenheim), Callum Saunders (Blenheim).

The staff have yet to be finalised.

Details: www.bikenz.org.nz