THE AUSTRALIAN CYCLING TEAM
The ‘Australian Cycling Team’ encompass the national squad athletes, coaches and performance support staff, previously branded the CA High Performance Unit, or HPU.
Cycling Australia is responsible for delivering High Performance International Podium Programs (IPP) and National Elite Teams for Track, Para-cycling (Road/Track), and Individual Athlete Support Programs for Road and BMX.
VISIONCycling Australia to be the world’s leading cycling nation |
MISSIONTo inspire and pursue excellence. |
OBJECTIVETo win Gold medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games |
About Us
For the Australian Cycling Team riding our bikes is at the heart of everything we do. We are the national squad of riders, coaches and performance support staff striving to be the very best we can be. We are aiming high – to inspire Australians to ride their bikes through achieving success in international competition.
Our Purpose
Our mission is to inspire and pursue excellence; our objectives are clear – to win gold medals at World Championships, Commonwealth and Olympic and Paralympic Games. Along the way, we want to encourage the next generation of kids to enjoy riding or dream of winning for Australia.
We are part of Cycling Australia’s overall plan to support and continuously improve the sport. The Australian Cycling Team’s role is to create the right environment for riders to learn, thrive and perform.
Investment approach and structure
To achieve success on the world stage, we have carefully decided where to invest our finite resources. In doing this we support a limited number of riders - 140 in total across the entire athlete pathway.
Eighty of these athletes are in the development programs which are regionally based and delivered in partnership with the State and Territory Institutes/Academies of Sport which collectively form the high-performance network (HPN). The HPN role is to create the training environment for all Para categories (Podium Potential through to Podium athletes) and also support able bodied Emerging and Developing athletes. For the able-bodied athletes, the emphasis is endurance with a focus on track disciplines.
The remaining sixty riders are classified as Podium Potential, Podium Ready or Podium and compete in BMX (Supercross and Freestyle), Track and Road disciplines and in Para-cycling, Road and Track. The support we provide varies from discipline to discipline. The track program is centralised and has the most investment and resources because track is where the likelihood of medal outcomes is highest.
How are we funded and supported?
We have three main funding sources:
Our primary funding source is the Australian Government through the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The AIS considers our funding an investment so we can produce results now and in the future.
We also receive funding, either directly into our program, in event support or in income support for athletes from Commonwealth Games Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee, and Paralympics Australia, along with significant support from the HPN via cycling development at a state level.
Corporate sponsors also form part of our funding mix, and we greatly appreciate the financial support and value-in-kind contributions they provide. Further details on our partners can be found [here].
Cycling Australia’s membership fees do not fund the performance programs.
Principles of performance
We take an athlete centred approach to performance. Our athletes are assisted by a multidisciplinary support team which includes athlete wellbeing support which is designed to enable our athletes to succeed whilst pursuing their sporting goals and enable them to thrive in life after sport. The lessons learnt in sport such as goal setting, attention to detail, personal leadership, performance behaviours and teamwork are transferable to life after sport and are highly regarded by employers or required if athletes pursue their own business interests.
For our future talent, support starts up to eight years away from the podium. Evidence tells us that investing earlier than eight years from the podium does not increase the probability of success. This means that our athlete age group will vary with discipline as the time required to develop into a Podium athlete varies by discipline.
We target our resources to those disciplines where we have the highest probability of winning medals over the short, medium and long term.
We believe in taking a methodical approach to providing quality athletes with high quality face to face coaches; underpinned by a holistic environment that drives improved performance.
Prioritisation is a critical performance principle, and difficult decisions are a fundamental part of high-performance sport. Sometimes, humans can make emotional and spontaneous decisions; we aim to avoid this by being clear on our principles and methods.
If performance was simply about numbers then Australia, with our relatively small population, wouldn’t be internationally competitive. Australia will continue to be successful if we provide our best talent with the best support possible. We focus on quality not quantity across the board.
In making our investment decisions we consider a number of factors: the athlete as a whole, their rate of progress and openness to learning. We consider the event in question and the facts about the duration in years it takes from athlete identification to Podium performance.
Consideration is also given to the complexity of the event; some events have higher likelihood of success than other events due to factors such as the terrain, course demands, team sizes, number of competitors and depth of field. Like any investor in business or sport, we aim to maximise return on our investment by investing more in areas where there is greater likelihood of a positive outcome. Sometimes, we have to invest unconventionally and strategically because we are competing against other countries with greater resources.
We make conscious and collaborative decisions about our role and influence in the preparation and development of athletes. Some disciplines we can fully support, but in others disciplines professional teams provide the majority of support and our role and impact is lower.
We also factor in Australia’s distance from the rest of the world and how this impacts not only costs, but on young rider development given the potential for extended overseas stays.
Why is our approach different from the past?
We are focusing our investment on fewer athletes than we did before. This focus allows us to provide more comprehensive support with a view to achieving long term success. The number of places available on any national team is small, and the numbers of athletes in the pathway should reflect this. By having less, we are doing more, through providing more focused and comprehensive support for riders.
For the Australian Cycling Team riding our bikes is at the heart of everything we do. We are the national squad of riders, coaches and performance support staff striving to be the very best we can be. We are aiming high – to inspire Australians to ride their bikes through achieving success in international competition.
Our Purpose
Our mission is to inspire and pursue excellence; our objectives are clear – to win gold medals at World Championships, Commonwealth and Olympic and Paralympic Games. Along the way, we want to encourage the next generation of kids to enjoy riding or dream of winning for Australia.
We are part of Cycling Australia’s overall plan to support and continuously improve the sport. The Australian Cycling Team’s role is to create the right environment for riders to learn, thrive and perform.
Investment approach and structure
To achieve success on the world stage, we have carefully decided where to invest our finite resources. In doing this we support a limited number of riders - 140 in total across the entire athlete pathway.
Eighty of these athletes are in the development programs which are regionally based and delivered in partnership with the State and Territory Institutes/Academies of Sport which collectively form the high-performance network (HPN). The HPN role is to create the training environment for all Para categories (Podium Potential through to Podium athletes) and also support able bodied Emerging and Developing athletes. For the able-bodied athletes, the emphasis is endurance with a focus on track disciplines.
The remaining sixty riders are classified as Podium Potential, Podium Ready or Podium and compete in BMX (Supercross and Freestyle), Track and Road disciplines and in Para-cycling, Road and Track. The support we provide varies from discipline to discipline. The track program is centralised and has the most investment and resources because track is where the likelihood of medal outcomes is highest.
How are we funded and supported?
We have three main funding sources:
- Government
- Affiliated sporting organisations; State and Territory Institutes/Academies of Sport, Commonwealth Games Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia
- Corporate sponsorship
Our primary funding source is the Australian Government through the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The AIS considers our funding an investment so we can produce results now and in the future.
We also receive funding, either directly into our program, in event support or in income support for athletes from Commonwealth Games Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee, and Paralympics Australia, along with significant support from the HPN via cycling development at a state level.
Corporate sponsors also form part of our funding mix, and we greatly appreciate the financial support and value-in-kind contributions they provide. Further details on our partners can be found [here].
Cycling Australia’s membership fees do not fund the performance programs.
Principles of performance
We take an athlete centred approach to performance. Our athletes are assisted by a multidisciplinary support team which includes athlete wellbeing support which is designed to enable our athletes to succeed whilst pursuing their sporting goals and enable them to thrive in life after sport. The lessons learnt in sport such as goal setting, attention to detail, personal leadership, performance behaviours and teamwork are transferable to life after sport and are highly regarded by employers or required if athletes pursue their own business interests.
For our future talent, support starts up to eight years away from the podium. Evidence tells us that investing earlier than eight years from the podium does not increase the probability of success. This means that our athlete age group will vary with discipline as the time required to develop into a Podium athlete varies by discipline.
We target our resources to those disciplines where we have the highest probability of winning medals over the short, medium and long term.
We believe in taking a methodical approach to providing quality athletes with high quality face to face coaches; underpinned by a holistic environment that drives improved performance.
Prioritisation is a critical performance principle, and difficult decisions are a fundamental part of high-performance sport. Sometimes, humans can make emotional and spontaneous decisions; we aim to avoid this by being clear on our principles and methods.
If performance was simply about numbers then Australia, with our relatively small population, wouldn’t be internationally competitive. Australia will continue to be successful if we provide our best talent with the best support possible. We focus on quality not quantity across the board.
In making our investment decisions we consider a number of factors: the athlete as a whole, their rate of progress and openness to learning. We consider the event in question and the facts about the duration in years it takes from athlete identification to Podium performance.
Consideration is also given to the complexity of the event; some events have higher likelihood of success than other events due to factors such as the terrain, course demands, team sizes, number of competitors and depth of field. Like any investor in business or sport, we aim to maximise return on our investment by investing more in areas where there is greater likelihood of a positive outcome. Sometimes, we have to invest unconventionally and strategically because we are competing against other countries with greater resources.
We make conscious and collaborative decisions about our role and influence in the preparation and development of athletes. Some disciplines we can fully support, but in others disciplines professional teams provide the majority of support and our role and impact is lower.
We also factor in Australia’s distance from the rest of the world and how this impacts not only costs, but on young rider development given the potential for extended overseas stays.
Why is our approach different from the past?
We are focusing our investment on fewer athletes than we did before. This focus allows us to provide more comprehensive support with a view to achieving long term success. The number of places available on any national team is small, and the numbers of athletes in the pathway should reflect this. By having less, we are doing more, through providing more focused and comprehensive support for riders.
High Performance Strategy 2020 – 2024
