Junior Worlds dream becomes reality

When the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships were awarded to Invercargill, Cycling Southland had a dream of what we wanted to achieve from the event. That dream (and then some) turned into reality last month as the world came to ride.

154 of the best under-19 men and women track cyclists from 24 countries descended on Stadium Southland Velodrome and, together, they put on a spectacular show.

19 world titles and an unprecedented five world record rides over five incredible days of racing. With the London Olympics fresh in everyone’s minds, our aim was to bring a world-class event to the cycling and sporting public of New Zealand.

Now, some weeks since the event, it is hugely satisfying to reflect on an experience that showcased the sport, our region and our facility around the globe in delivering what UCI has informed us were the best Junior Worlds ever.

It started on the opening evening, where world records fell on four separate occasions and New Zealand fought hard but had to be content with three appearances on the second step of the podium.

That proved to be a theme for the Championships with Australia leaving Invercargill atop the medal table with nine rainbow jerseys and the New Zealanders matching their haul from a year ago in Moscow, taking home 10 medals, including seven silvers. The only thing missing from the champs was God Defend New Zealand, as that elusive world title remained out of the grasp of the class of 2012.

After a start like that, our only concern was how the rest of the championship would live up to that standard. We need not have worried. The rest of the competition was filled with incredible story lines.

Russia’s Daria Shmeleva completely dominated the women’s sprint event to sweep all four golds and add a second world record in the Women’s Time Trial. Write her name down for Rio. Australia’s Tayla Jennings is another who seems destined for great things. She swept the Women’s Omnium with six wins from six events for the second consecutive year, all after she had already claimed gold in the Team Pursuit and Points races.
Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria fell twice on the opening night of the Men’s Omnium but patched himself together to claim gold and set the standard for post-race celebrations, riding the length of the front straight on the back wheel of his road bike with his Colombian flag as a cape.

He also featured in one of the most poignant moments of the championships when Fernando and Hayden McCormick helped Dylan Kennett on to the podium after the New Zealander had bravely fought to a bronze medal after an early fall in the Madison.

But for our organisation, whilst the action on the track was world class, it was the atmosphere inside Stadium Southland Velodrome that really sent shivers down our spines. I have never heard noise like the roar they gave Kennett during his silver-medal ride in the Men’s Kilo and the crowd didn’t let up for five sell-out days.

Huge thanks goes to our army of volunteers, all 130 of you who gave up five days to help put New Zealand on the track cycling map. Thanks too to main sponsor SIT, funding partners Invercargill Licensing Trust, ILT Foundation, Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council, Community Trust of Southland, Venture Southland, NZ Major Events, Sport New Zealand and, of course, our partners at BikeNZ and UCI.

The only question now is what’s next?

Relive all the action at www.juniorworlds2012.com where you’ll find video highlights from every final.

Curtain-raiser preview to Worlds

Tom Beadle rides in the Junior Worlds Curtain Raiser

On Saturday night we were treated to a sneak preview of what to expect when the UCI Juniors World Track Championships start at Stadium Southland Velodrome in a little over a week.

The New Zealand and South Africa Worlds’ squads both fronted up to contest our Curtain-Raiser Race Night on Saturday and they duly put on a great show.
Hosting these world championships has been a four year process, dating back to the decision in 2008 to bid for hosting rights. To now be in the final straight is hugely exciting and Saturday’s event gave us all the chance to test drive our set-up and systems for the worlds as well as providing the opportunity for the New Zealanders to get some race simulation in to their build up.

I watched their morning training session which they treated as a mock qualifying session. The Men’s and Women’s Team Sprints and Team Pursuits both prepared as they would for next Wednesday’s opening session, before riding the Curtain-Raiser like a final.

The signs are very good. There are some tough selection decisions that will have to be made over the next few days and the competition but supportive environment that has been developed within the squad is a credit to the management team and gives the squad the best chance possible to recreate and exceed the success of last year’s record World Championship return.

Our velodrome is a truly spectacular facility, but to see it decked out, ready for the finishing touches this week for the world championships is something else again.

We could not be happier with the level of support we have received from all sections of the community. In typical Southland fashion our phone has been running hot with offers of assistance and enquiries from all sorts of organizations and individuals just keen to help and contribute in some way.
The enquiry we are receiving from international media is also hugely pleasing. Each year we like to think we profile Southland like no other event with the profile the PowerNet Tour of Southland receives. Next week the world will be watching, with an international broadcast package, designed to firmly put Invercargill and Southland in front of the cycling world.

So what happens this week? We’ll be in more Southland secondary schools all week long and at the Eastern Suburbs and Brewers Elbow bars on Wednesday and Thursday night respectively, with our Roller Racing. The bulk of the international team arrive this week, team trainings will be in full swing out of the track, final set-up of the velodrome will be completed, opening ceremonies and medal presentation rehearsals will be held and, with a bit of luck, we’ll move the last of our remaining tickets.

I suspect it will be both the longest and shortest week of our lives. But by this time this week, we will be ready to watch the world’s best juniors take to our velodrome. The pipe dream of four years ago is about to become reality.

Final countdown and Olympic distractions

South Africa arrive for Junior Worlds

16 sleeps until the start of the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships.

Entry numbers continue to rise with some countries coming out of the woodwork late to line up at the start line in a little over a fortnight. Last count was north of 160 riders and 24 countries. The Netherlands, Japan and Mexico (who will field one of the largest squads with 15 riders) are the latest to confirm attendance over the past week.

The first of our squads arrived this past week with South Africa touching down for their four week long stay. They haven't wasted any time in getting down to business, spending quality time on the track and the road including mixing with the locals in our Saturday Club Road race at Mabel Bush on Saturday. They may not harbour hopes of world titles, but we'll be doing everything we can to make sure it is a trip none of them will forget anytime soon.

This week has also seen the continuation of our Secondary Schools’ Roller Racing. Central Southland College and Verdon College both showed impressive form this week and it was great to share the fun with our outstanding sponsor at SIT's Re-Orientation as well.

If the Olympics have inspired you and you are in Years 9 to 13, come along to the Velodrome at 4pm on Tuesday and have a crack for a chance to take part in our Ultimate Ride-Off on the final day of Junior Worlds. And for the slightly older wannabe, we start our Pub Challenges this week visiting the Eastern Suburbs Tavern on Wednesday and Big Willy's on Thursday. Our mates at the ILT have put up $500 in prizes for each night.

In between the inevitable last minute preparations, there has been this quite large sporting event going on in London in the background. Thankfully, sleep isn’t important because it’s been very hard to pull yourself away from the giggle box at some ungodly hour of the morning.

The last couple of nights have been particularly taxing, trying to balance the end of the rowing and swimming with the start of triathlon, track and field and, of course, the track cycling. It’s been a mixed bag for the Kiwis on the London Velodrome, headlined by the bronze medal for the Men’s Team Pursuit and the fifth place finish for Eddie Dawkins and the Men’s Team Sprint. Both Eddie and Natasha Hansen (who was back in business overnight in the Women’s Sprint) have looked right at home amongst the elite competition and that’s a great sign for the next Olympic cycle.

It’s hard not to watch in awe at what the Brits have achieved. After winning seven golds and eleven cycling medals at Beijing four years ago, they have the chance to medal in nine of the ten disciplines at home this year. But, I know of at least two Southlanders who will already be focusing on re-dressing that balance a little in Rio in four years time.

Taking time to reflect

Lindsay Jordan, Lyn Randall and Steve Canny at the AGM

I am sometimes prone to hyperbole. Being in a sporting organization that delivers a huge number of top class events and showcases some of the south’s finest athletes in every age group, you can excuse the odd moment of exaggeration.

Even for me, using the word celebration in the same sentence as Annual General Meeting is probably going a little too far, but Cycling Southland’s AGM on Thursday night did, to my way of thinking, represent a number of things our organisation can be very proud of.

It represented a lot of hard work. Too often we don’t take the time to reflect on a job well done. With increased profile and more riders than ever involved in our events and our club road and track racing and programmes, it’s been a satisfying twelve months. The launch of our Learn to Ride KiwiSport programme and the start of our Roller Racing Ride-offs in schools mean we are teaching students how to ride and how to have a blast doing it.

The AGM also represented the incredible levels of support we receive. To deliver increased activities, increased year-on-year revenues and deliver an operational surplus in the current sports funding environment is no mean feat. I wish that was the stuff that made newspaper headlines.

Thanks to the huge amount of work that has gone in to our organization over many years means that we are in the financial position to put up to $100,000 of our Club’s own funds in to the Junior World Track Cycling Champs next month. The first chunk of that was expensed in our 2011-12 financial accounts. I guess you can write two headlines to that story. One about a club that works hard and puts its own money where its mouth is, (along with the outstanding local and national funding support,) to bring a World Championship to Southland. Or you can write a headline about another loss for a sporting organization. No surprise to guess which one I would write.

But enough of the glass half empty stuff. All of those who have contributed to Cycling Southland over a great many years can share in the success story of this little club of ours when the world comes to ride in a little over three weeks. It is on the back of all of their hard work that a crazy idea four years ago to have a crack at hosting a World event has become reality.

And it is with this sentiment in mind where I touch on the best part of last week’s AGM; the awarding of a Life Membership to Lyn Randall. Lyn is a man who gave a tremendous amount to the sport on a local and national level and was instrumental in the changes which lead to Cycling Southland and BikeNZ in their current forms. He will be with us at Junior Worlds, celebrating the role he played in getting us there and I know, like mine, his glass will be half full.

Trifecta of cycling events

By the time you get to read this, the first leg of cycling’s trifecta of world events will have concluded. Bradley Wiggins (right) will have rolled up the Champs-Elysees, glass of champers in hand, surrounded by his Team Sky team mates, holding a finger in the air to signify his and Great Britain’s first Tour de France win.
There is a crazy short turn-around to the trifecta’s second leg – the London Olympics.
This Saturday night (NZ time) Greg Henderson, with 3000 kilometres under his belt from the last three weeks pushing pedals around the French country-side joins former PowerNet Tour of Southland runner up Jack Bayer to try and somehow disrupt Great Britain’s plans of leading Mark Cavendish to Men’s Road Race gold. Linda Villumsen will ride the Women’s road race the following day and she will provide our best chances of a medal on the road when she starts the Time Trial in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Be ready for more sleep deprivation cycling fans! The track cycling programme begins 3am next Friday morning (August 3rd) with Eddie Dawkins and his Team Sprint mates the first Kiwis to christen the Olympic Velodrome. Unfortunately, the time difference puts the vast majority of track finals between 4 and 5:30am, meaning the alarm is going to get a fair work-out over the six days of competition.
And then comes the final leg, our hosting of the 2012 UCI Juniors Track Cycling World Championships. We are at the business end of planning now with yesterday (Sunday) marking one month to the opening day of competition.
Team confirmations are coming thick and fast now with the entry process officially opening this week. The United States are the latest to confirm its squad and it will be one of the largest with 14 athletes selected over the weekend to wear the Stars and Stripes at Stadium Southland Velodrome.

Ticket sales have spiked over the last week as word gets out that only limited numbers remain. Only a handful of tickets to Sunday’s final session are left and all other sessions are north off 80% gone. We are delighted and humbled by your support and interest and we’ll make sure we put on a good show for you.
Corporate hosting options have now been launched as well and very soon they may be the only chance to get inside the velodrome to watch. Check out www.juniorworlds2012.com/tickets for all the info.
This week we start our Roller Racing series which will be staged at Southland secondary schools over coming weeks with the top students lining up for an Ultimate Ride-off between sessions at the Junior World Championships. We’ll also be at a number of ILT establishments and at our main sponsor SIT. Again all the info is online at the junior worlds website.
We’ve been lucky to organize a couple of handy curtain-raisers (Tour de France and the Olympics). Bring on the main event! To say it is an exciting time, just doesn’t do it justice.

Pushing through the pain

Southland District Council in the Corporate Pursuit

As you read this poor excuse for a sports column, spare a thought for a number of cyclists who will be waking up feeling a little stiff and sore this morning.

I’m not talking about the Tour de France peloton which has left more skin then usual on French roads this week. I’m referring to our hardy bunch of corporate pursuiters who lined up in Cycling Southland’s Harrex Group-sponsored event yesterday.

As described previously, yesterday’s Grading Time Trial seeds the 34 teams in order across two divisions for this Sunday’s main event. You’ll find full results from yesterday elsewhere in this fine publication. Needless to say we should be in for some great racing and a lot of fun on Finals Day from 10am on Sunday.

*****

Away from the track, the second race in Cycling Southland’s Winter Racing Series was held on Saturday with the Donovan Points Race staged around a 10 kilometre circuit from Retreat Road on the outskirts of Invercargill.

A Grade proved clear-cut in the end as the master gave his pupils something of a lesson. Matt Randall made a successful return to the club racing scene claiming four sprint wins out of five for a final tally of 23 points to see off his protégés Matt Zenovich (14 points) and Brad Tuhi (11 points) for the win.

B Grade was shaping up for a gripping finish between Vaughan Edie and Dave Beadle before a last lap puncture forced Beadle’s withdrawal and Edie celebrated by winning the final sprint to claim an impressive victory on 18 points from Wayne Miller and Gabby Vermunt.

Wally Kopae showed his track legs in C Grade to kick for three sprint wins and two seconds for a final tally of 21 points, well clear of second-placed Garry Perkins with Neil Sutherland’s final sprint victory elevating him in to third spot.

*****

In closing, I have a few words regarding the Invercargill Licensing Trust and ILT Foundation. We would have an excuse to pen words of thanks most weeks of the year; such is the level of support we receive throughout the year, but there was something pretty special about what I witnessed this past week.

Not only have both organizations made sizable direct funding contributions to assist with the UCI Junior Track Worlds next month, but the ILT Foundation last week confirmed additional scholarships for a total of five local cyclists. Junior Worlds representatives Tom Beadle, Jeremy Presbury and Kate Dunlevey along with NZ Development road squad members Josh Haggerty and Michael Culling all received significant contributions.

Each one of these families went out of their way to pass on to me their sincere and humble gratitude for the Foundation’s level of support. It is only fair that I pass on their message in the most public fashion possible.

To the board and staff at both ILT and ILT Foundation goes a heart-felt thank you. I was lucky enough to hear these responses directly. Never doubt the difference that you are making.

Corporate rookies back for second helping

Last year a number of new businesses and individual lined up in Cycling Southland’s Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit. Amongst the starters was first-time team St Thomas Aquinas School, including debutants Tabitha Brock and Summer Wilton.

Today, ahead of the first race day in the 2012 edition next weekend, our returning Corporate Pursuit rookies share their thoughts on their introduction to riding the velodrome.

The event appealed to us as it was something quite different and new to attempt. Demonstrating to our kids at school that taking on new challenges no matter how daunting was a key factor in being involved. Challenge was certainly the operative word as we discovered right from the outset of our first introduction to the boards of the velodrome. 

“Riding up against the wall of the track, I would close my eyes around some of the bend and just pedal hard hoping I would get around the 43 degrees upright” says Wilton. “Having to adjust to riding on a bike in which you are locked into and using muscles that don’t often get used was also a nerve wracking experience” adds team mate Tabitha Brock. Once we got over those fears the adrenaline rush kicked in and progress was made each week as we trained for the big day. 

Our first introduction to the crowds including some of our school families on time trial day was fantastic. “We felt like professionals” says Wilton. Our FIL school tops, the music, teams warming up around us all made for an atmosphere that was pumping. “Even at this point we felt a huge sense of achievement from where we had begun only five weeks earlier” says Brock. 

Come finals race day our trust in each other to ride within mere inches of the wheel and competitiveness to give each ride 100% had well and truly kicked in. The day was full of the adrenaline rocketing sky high mixed with a fair share of nerve-wracking experiences. “None more so than the opportunity to take on the women’s three lap track race. Wheels were touching, faces were changing all sorts of colours and the tension was high, and I loved every minute of it” says Wilton. 

“Those experiences, combined with the team racing element, is why we are back again this year. We learnt a lot about the sport, the ability to challenge ourselves all while having a heap of fun.”

The 34 strong field will line up in the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit Grading Time Trial on Sunday at the Stadium Southland Velodrome with the first team away at 12:30pm. Entry is by gold coin donation. The times recorded on Sunday will seed the teams for the Corporate Pursuit Finals on Sunday 15th.

While our Olympic and Junior Worlds riders will grab many of the headlines over the next few months, for Cycling Southland there is no better event to convert the likes of Tabitha and Summer to the wonderful sport of track cycling than the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit.

Business at speed - Corporate Pursuit returns

Southland District Council on track

In today's business world, companies have to be quick to react, flexible and have the ability to act decisively and with speed. Now, I'm not talking about how they operate 9 to 5! I'm referring to the 2012 version of Cycling Southland's Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit.

This year another capacity field of 34 six-person teams will line up over two race days next month to find the south’s best cycling corporate.

There is a great mix of experience and first-timers in the field from every sector imaginable with teams from H&J Smith, Whyte’s Gravel Supplies, Southland Times, McIntyre Dick and Partners, PowerNet, Preston Russell Law, WHK, ASA Stonewood Homes, Southland District Council, Harcourts, Environment Southland, NZ Police, Invercargill Licensing Trust, AWS Legal, BNZ, Ricoh, BMAC Sheetmetal, The Radio Network, Westpac, Southroads, HW Richardson Group, Opus International Consultants, EIS Group, Finance Now, Amalgamated Builders, Fulton Hogan Southland, Fonterra, Calder Stewart Roofing, YMCA, Waihopai Health Sevices, SBS Bank, St Thomas Aquinas School and of course our magnificent sponsor Harrex Group. Try picking a winner from that lot!

So, how does it work? Each team has been training hard refining their combinations over the last month with our personal team coaches at the Stadium Southland Velodrome. The first challenge is the Grading Time Trial on Sunday 8 July when each team will take on the clock in a one-off four-lap ride. This ranks the team in order from first to thirty-fourth for the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit Finals one week later on Sunday 15 July.

On finals day the field is split in to two divisions and it turns in to an elimination format. Teams ride two at a time with the winner of each four-lapper progressing through the rounds and the losers dropping in to our plate competitions. Ultimately, two teams are left to battle for the big divisional prizes.

Last year the NZ Police got the “business” done taking out Division One over Calder Stewart Roofing, while former champion YMCA defeated Fonterra to take home the Division Two trophy.

Both race days are two of the most colourful in the Velodrome all year. The teams come decked out in customised racing tops and supporters and work-mates do the same, filling the stand with banners, costumes and plenty of noise. It is always great to see how much faster the teams all ride on the competition days, firing themselves up with the support from the bleachers being a major factor.

It's great fun and it is expertly organized by Julian Ineson and Sier Vermunt who again have plans for next month well in hand. Thanks again for all your work guys.

Before I go, congratulations go to Cycling Southland's Erin Criglington who last week was awarded a Services Award at the National Bike Road and Track Volunteer Awards. It’s always great to see someone like Erin who gives so much on and off the bike as a rider, official, volunteer, coach and mentor get a little something back in return.

Sports awards showcase top talent

Junior Sports Person Steph McKenzie 

On Friday night I was lucky enough to host the ILT Southland Sports Awards. It's the second year I've had the privilege to be officially involved with a night that recognizes the outstanding performances by Southland's premier sporting talent.

One of the best initiatives added over recent years has been to collate a list of each sport’s best performance of the year and showcase them all on the Awards Programme and Menu for each guest to study throughout the night.

Too often, many of these performances get lost in the hustle and bustle, in some cases they unfortunately don’t see the light of day or, if they do, are all too quickly forgotten as “yesterday’s news.”

They say success breeds success, which of course is true. But success can also produce complacency, a malaise even – we end up taking it for granted. The ILT Southland Sports Awards puts as many of those stories as possible front and centre again and unashamedly celebrates them for what they are – pure unadulterated success.

The awards period covers 1 April to 31 March each year and the wonderful thing is that the performances we’ve seen already since next year’s awards period opened does point to another difficult judging year in 2013.

So with that in mind and being the helpful type, here are a few early pointers for next year’s judging panel from your mates at Cycling Southland;

In April Eddie Dawkins became the first New Zealander ever to break the 10 second barrier over 200 metres and was part of the Men’s Team Sprint trio which won this country’s first ever world championship sprint medal. And, just so you know, Tom Scully became the first New Zealander to podium in one of the most prestigious Under-23 races in the world, the famous Paris-Roubaix cycling classic last month.

Remember we are only two months in to the new “awards year” and with a strong Southland contingent lining up at the Junior Worlds in Invercargill and the Olympics and Paralympics in London we’ll reserve a few extra places to join Eddie and Tom as next year’s nominees. Nothing like getting in early eh!

Next cab off the rank for us is the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit with 34 teams from southern businesses starting their rigourous training campaigns leading in to next month’s track event. Look out for some of the fun and hilarity of this outstanding event to feature in this column over coming weeks.

To finish today, here’s a final reminder that our fundraising auction for our local Junior Worlds riders closes at lunchtime today. The signed cycling tops by our Olympic, Paralympic and Junior Worlds riders are up for grabs until 1pm today. Just search for cyclingsouth on TradeMe or visit cyclingsouth.org.nz.

For the memorabilia collector or southern business this would look great on your wall and will no doubt go up in value after the events the signatories are riding in August and again after next year’s Sports Awards. Isn’t that right judges?

Digging deep for Junior Worlds reps

Our Junior Worlds reps on-stage at Thursday's send-off

On Thursday night Cycling Southland held a Send-off Function for our Olympic, Paralympic and Junior Worlds cyclists. From this week our crop of talented bike riders start the next phases of their respective campaigns with pre-competition training camps as they scatter around the globe.

Last week’s send-off featured three Olympic squad members in Eddie Dawkins, Natasha Hansen and Matt Archibald, three Paralympians in Phillipa Gray and tandem pilots Laura Thompson and Kylie Young and three Junior World track representatives in Kate Dunlevey, Tom Beadle and Jeremy Presbury. Take a moment and think about what an incredible achievement it is for a province like Southland to be contributing that many to the select bunch of athletes who will represent their country at the various pinnacles of the sport this year.

It shows the dedication from the athletes themselves, but speaks volumes to the support groups – coaches, community, funders and most especially, families – that each rider relies on heavily to make it and stay at the top.

Each of the riders has their own unique story to tell. Dawkins is a true Southland success story. Having been riding a bike competitively since the age of 12, he has done it the old fashioned way, through a lot of hard work, coming up through the grades and taking every opportunity to give back to the community which has watched him grow into an athlete of world standing before their very eyes. Hansen and Archibald have both relocated to Southland and have shown incredible commitment in holding down fulltime jobs whilst improving out of sight in short spaces of time. Most talk about 2016 in Rio as the long-term focus for all three, but I know all have their eyes firmly set on London in just a few short week’s time.

Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson have quickly formed a world class combination and along with Kylie Young, who will partner former World champion Jayne Parsons, all three are realistic Paralympic medal chances in the 3000m Pursuit. A Kiwi and Southland double is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Our three Junior Worlds reps will, over the next three months, become very familiar names. All three have followed different paths to get to this point in their young cycling careers but all now have the same goal – winning world championship medals in front of a home crowd in August.

It’s ironic, given the World Champs are to be staged in their home towns, that the Junior athletes and their families face some hefty travel bills to allow the riders to train in Australia, the United States or Europe over the next couple of months.

To this end we have a fundraising auction which is currently underway. We have three signed BikeNZ Cycling Tops signed by the riders mentioned above and all of the winning bids will go to the Junior Worlds families.

Simply visit cyclingsouth.org.nz for details or search for cyclingsouth on TradeMe and bid up. By August I’m sure they will be even better investments.