{"id":582027,"date":"2026-04-03T03:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582027\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T03:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T03:17:12","slug":"big-challenges-for-nz-cycling-team-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/582027\/","title":{"rendered":"Big challenges for NZ Cycling team in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/382be2_bd82639279d643c3b4972ac505591b85~mv2.jpg\" alt=\"Bryony Botha is part of a strong NZ Cycling track team in 2026 PHOTO: SWPix\" style=\"width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;object-position:50% 50%;max-width:100%;position:absolute;left:0;top:0\" data-pin-url=\"https:\/\/www.nzsportswire.com\/post\/big-challenges-for-nz-cycling-team-in-2026\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/382be2_bd82639279d643c3b4972ac505591b85~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_1200,h_675,al_c,q_85\/382be2_bd82639279d643c3b4972ac505591b85~mv2.jpg\" draggable=\"false\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Bryony Botha is part of a strong NZ Cycling track team in 2026 PHOTO: SWPix<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-vtqlx532\">Cycling New Zealand\u2019s track riders are primed to begin a demanding international programme starting this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-4vwsy482\">The high performance track team will compete at UCI Track World Cups in Hong Kong and Malaysia this month; building to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July and finally the UCI Track World Championships in China in October.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-7la69485\">Meanwhile the Cycling New Zealand Para cycling squad contest UCI Road World Cups in Belgium and Italy in May; the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and then build to the World Championships in the Netherlands in October.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-6g8gd488\">\u201cAfter a relatively quiet 2025, this year will build to the UCI World Championships at the end of the year. This is an important building-block as we turn our longer-term attention towards the Los Angeles Olympic Games for both of our track squads,\u201d said Cycling New Zealand High Performance Director, Ryan Hollows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-t3at6491\">\u201cA clear aim to begin the second half of the year will be the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. While it is a cut-down format, for us it is always a privilege to wear the silver fern and represent our country to the best of our abilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-gzyms494\">\u201cIt is also in Glasgow, which has proven a very successful track for our riders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-0o31e497\">Cycling New Zealand has selected a mix of both experience and the future in squads for the Hong Kong and Malaysia World Cups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-dexap500\">Paris Olympic double medallist Ally Wollaston returns from her professional road duties to link back with Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman and Sami Donnelly, with the super-impressive Prudence Fowler joining a powerful endurance group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-dajql503\">Likewise, the men\u2019s endurance squad comprises last year\u2019s world championship medallists Nick Kergouzou, Tom Sexton, Keegan Hornblow and Marshall Erwood. Joining them is experienced UCI Pro Team Burgos Burpellet BH rider George Jackson and newcomer, 20-year-old Daniel Morton from Counties Manukau, a stage winner at January\u2019s SBS Tour of Southland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-qj1q3506\">Sam Dakin is the lone male sprinter, with Paris star Ellesse Andrews joined by Olympic Games reserve Olivia King and exciting junior sprint record holder, Riley Faulkner (Southland) for the opening round in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-aqgaa509\">Paris Olympic sprint medallists &#8211; new mother Rebecca Petch and injured Shaane Fulton &#8211; are yet to return to full training duties, while Wollaston will return to her UCI World Tour duties for the second round in Malaysia, where King will be the sole female sprinter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-g4gdo512\">UCI World Cup 2, Hong Kong, 17-19 April:<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-jh9e5515\">Female Endurance: Bryony Botha, Sami Donnelly, Emily Shearman, Prudence Fowler, Ally Wollaston. Male: Dan Morton, George Jackson, Keegan Hornblow, Marshall Erwood, Nick Kergouzou, Tom Sexton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-l08dq518\">Female sprint: Ellesse Andrews, Olivia King, Riley Faulkner. Male sprint: Sam Dakin<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-0biuk521\">World Cup 3, Malaysia, 24-26 April:<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-2i0yc524\">Female Endurance: Botha, Donnelly, Shearman, Fowler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-rjaa7527\">Male: Morton, Jackson, Hornblow, Erwood, Kergouzou, Sexton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dzhEF ntB6g fpTX4 bMKtZ\" dir=\"auto\" id=\"viewer-fusxk530\">Female sprint: King. Male sprint: Dakin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bryony Botha is part of a strong NZ Cycling track team in 2026 PHOTO: SWPix Cycling New Zealand\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-582027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}