Welcome to the Australian Cycling Team's 30 from 30! 

Across the month of April, a host of current Australian Cycling Team members, coaches and staff, plus former Australian Cycling Team athletes, will take you behind the scenes to show you some of the unique and different ways we are keeping healthy and active, keeping a routine and staying connected, and supporting our community by helping to inspire and motivate in your own endeavours at home.

Whether you’re in isolation in Australia or across the world.

Follow the #AusCyclingTeam at Facebook @AustralianCyclingTeam, Instagram @AustralianCyclingTeam and Twitter @AusCyclingTeam

Day 42

It is now exactly seven weeks since Kai crashed, and we are relieved to say that he is making progress — tiny steps in the right direction.

A key step for Kai is he now off the respirator and can breathe by himself unassisted. As he is not dependent on the breathing machinery, it has been possible to move him out of the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and into a high care ward. During his time in ICU, Kai had dedicated nurses monitoring him 24/7 to ensure he had the best possible care to get through the very critical stage. It’s said that most people stay in ICU for less than a week, the fact that Kai was there for so long is an indication of the severity of his injury.

We were absolutely amazed by the care and professionalism provided by the Canberra ICU. There is no doubt without their incredible skills, support infrastructure and genuine ability to look after critically ill patients, Kai would not be here today. Each of the doctors and nurses was genuinely interested in providing an outstanding service for people in their care and we felt that Kai was in good hands while he was there. While we don’t have experience with the ICU in other hospitals, we are sure they all provide a similarly high level of care.

Some other wins for Kai over the past few weeks: 1. Kai was on extremely strong sedation to ensure he would not move; the heavy drugs have been stopped and have cleared out of his system. 2. Most of the connections to machines have now been removed; Kai was connected to heart monitor, blood pressure monitor, respirator, brain pressure monitor — these have all gone. 3. Kai has opened his eyes and is looking around.

According to the neurosurgeons, Kai is starting the long process of “emerging” from his coma. People who are emerging from a coma do not just ‘wake up’, but go through a gradual process of regaining consciousness over a long period of time which could take months. This is the start of the recovery process; the doctors are happy with the improvements he has made so far but does remind us that they are not able to predict the future. Every case is different.

Fundraising thanks
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During this time, a fantastic group of friends came together and organised an online auction to raise funds for Kai's recovery. With riders from around the world donating their jerseys, bikes, number plates and other goodies. For a week of the auctions, social media was filled with awesome people getting behind Kai's fundraiser, and by the end of it there was over AUD$45,000 raised — we were blown away. Your work and effort are really appreciated. Thank you so much to everyone who was involved.

There was also an amazing fundraiser night organised by our friend Paula Griffiths in NSW and hosted by Ben Hidalgo from Holeshot Fitness a couple of weeks ago. Many people and organisations donated wonderful items to be auctioned off. Lots of people attended, a number of whom we have not seen for years making, it a really successful event with a fantastic atmosphere. It’s ironic that Kai would have loved to be there to meet everyone, but if he could have attended there would have been no need for the event …

Some clubs around Australia held novelty races, other clubs have been selling #KaiFight77 stickers and T-shirts, we even heard of young riders in the UK selling #KaiFight77 stickers at the UK National Series. The support for Kai has been absolutely amazing from the BMX community, the Helensburgh community where we live and other friends. We are incredibly humbled by the response and the support from people all around the world. And no doubt, it has helped us be strong and keep positive. 

Spotify playlists

Lots of people have taken the time to put together some playlists for Kai, there are Playlists from Australia, UK, France, Japan and Italy which is amazing. Some of the playlists have plenty of F-bombs, some are clean and all are very much appreciated. Kai is a big music lover so we have been playing your music to him constantly. Please keep those playlists coming …. label them “#KaiFight77 - your name” so we know who created them. If you have not listened to the #KaiFight77 playlists on Spotify then give them a go — there are some great collections there.

Kai’s family

We’re still staying in an AirBnB about 10 mins walk from the hospital so we're able to go and see Kai 2 or 3 times a day without having to worry about traffic, parking etc. Saya is dedicated to training and her Olympic campaign. She understands that decisions made to optimise her training are also in Kai’s best interest. Martin and Yuki are trying to keep busy so please get in touch if you need anything.
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People ask how we are doing which is a bit tricky to answer. All parents want to help their children where they can, but in this case, we feel very helpless — this is Kai’s fight and ultimately success (whatever that looks like) will depend on him. We also have to manage the uncertainty of not knowing how things are going to turn out for Kai, we don’t know what recovery looks like and we don’t know how far he will be able to go.

In order to stay positive, we try and focus on what we have gained and not what we have lost. We don’t spend too much time thinking about how close Kai was to his dream of making the Olympics because that doesn’t help. Instead, we need to remind ourselves that we nearly lost him seven weeks ago and he has fought to get to where he is today — there are small improvements every day and we are grateful for all of these. Things are so much better now than they were 42 days ago.

Next steps

Every day is a different day for Kai. Some days will be good, somedays will be not so good. But what we know is that Kai will keep fighting until the job is done. It is in his nature.

On the 1st January, 2020 Kai made the following post on Instagram

“How far can I go? How far am I willing to go? How far will I go? A new opportunity to redefine who we are and who we want to be - but it’s up to us to take action. We have to take action….A huge year ahead. One day at a time, one moment at a time. Let’s go.”

Little did Kai know how big this year is going to be, his goals have been reset and he will have to redefine who he is. For Kai and for us it is absolutely …

One day at a time, one moment at a time. Let's go.

Regards,

Martin, Yuki, Saya

Fundraising accounts

KaiFight77: BSB 182-182 | Account No 3380821 | Swift Code (for international) MACQAU2SXXX
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Road 2 Recovery (10% goes to the Road 2 Recovery foundation which is a good thing) road2recovery.com/cause-view/kai-sakakibara

As we reported on 18 March, one of our Adelaide-based staff members tested positive to COVID-19 on Monday 16 March. The team member is receiving the right medical support and is in good spirits in hospital and making progress. 

Government health authorities have undertaken tracking and tracing, as per their policies and processes. 

In addition to these measures, we have chosen to test six additional team members - comprising three athletes and three staff - this decision was a precautionary measure only. Five have since returned negative results. We expect to receive the remaining test result over the next 24-48 hours and will provide an update when this is received.

Following a review of this situation, we are confident that staff and athlete exposure to the infected staff member was extremely low primarily due to a pre-planned staff and athlete break from the Adelaide training environment for the period of 7-15 March.

In responding to this situation, Cycling Australia and the Australian Cycling Team have activated its Critical Incident Management Team. This team convenes daily to facilitate rapid decision making and leadership. 

Cycling Australia and the Australian Cycling Team have been proactive in implementing a range of measures aimed at reducing the potential impact of the infection over and above government public health recommendations and considerations.  

Further to this, we have been proactive in implementing evidence-based hygiene practices and education as far back as 2018, and more recently we stepped up and reinforced hygiene practice for travel and training prior to the 2020 season. We are confident that we have taken and continue to take prudent measures to maximise athlete and staff health.

Recent measures that have been taken to reduce infection risk and protect staff and athletes:

• Super-drome closures this week; 17-20 March
• Additional cleaning of the training environment and office spaces
• Social distancing measures such as reduced staff and athletes at the Super-drome, reduced working in closed spaces and reducing contact and face to face meetings, the closing of meeting spaces such as athlete lounge and kitchen areas will be implemented from 23 March
• Podium Potential Academy athletes have returned to their families and home states
• SASI Development athletes will train outdoors for the next four weeks, providing more space between people, and sessions in the venue 
• Continued vigilance on best practice hand hygiene and no handshaking

On the performance side, we have been proactive in short and medium-term planning with scenario and contingency planning for all high-performance competition and domestic racing and camps with a continuing priority focus on protecting the health of athletes and staff. 
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We are seeking to provide both a training purpose and appropriate objective setting but also being considerate of the broader global impact of this infection pandemic.  

Simon Jones, Performance Director, Cycling Australia

More: The most up to date information on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) can be found at the Australian Government Department of Health website with advice and information relating to high-performance environments found at the AIS webpage.

Australian Olympic Committee Release

Fifteen track cyclists have been announced on the Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2020 today, featuring six Olympic debuts, seven athletes making their second Olympic Team and Annette Edmondson and Matthew Glaetzer returning for their third Games.
 
Matthew Glaetzer, Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson, Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton will compete in the sprint events, with Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker, Amy Cure, Annette Edmondson, Maeve Plouffe, Leigh Howard, Kelland O’Brien, Lucas Plapp, Alex Porter and Sam Welsford selected for the endurance events.
 
With athletes who have medalled at the Olympics and claimed World Championship titles in their career, the 15-strong squad will compete from 3-9 August in Tokyo’s Izu velodrome over 12 events, including the Olympic return of the two-rider Madison event for the first time since Beijing 2008.
 
Australian Chef de Mission for Tokyo 2020 Ian Chesterman welcomed the cyclists to the Australian Olympic Team, acknowledging the current unprecedented uncertainty around international sport.
 
“Athletes have waited four years, and in some cases longer, for this opportunity,” Mr Chesterman said. “We are in uncharted waters, but we want to set a course to ensure they can prepare for the Games in the best possible environment and they can get to the Games safely. Part of that process is to announce athletes as they are nominated and selected to the Australian Olympic Team.
 
“Australian track cyclists have a phenomenal Olympic legacy and I want to congratulate the fifteen athletes selected today to continue that tradition.
 
“This is the result of more than a decade of unrelenting hard work by our athletes and it is worth celebrating. This is an achievement for the athletes, the whole Cycling Australia team, coaches, family, friends and supporters.
 
“The resilience these athletes have already shown is inspiring – Matt Glaetzer’s named to his second Games despite the challenge of thyroid cancer; Kaarle McCulloch overcoming the disappointment of missing Rio 2016 to become World Champion in 2019 and make her Olympic return; each athlete selected today has a story of perseverance and we’re proud to select them to the Australian Olympic Team today.
 
“There’s certainly disruption in preparing for the Games for many sports, but I encourage the fifteen cyclists announced today and all athletes pursuing their dream of competing at Tokyo 2020 to continue taking care of what they can control – training and preparing as best as possible to be ready for Tokyo.”
 
2019 World Champion and London 2012 bronze medallist Kaarle McCulloch was proud to be selected for her second Games, just weeks after she secured a 2020 World Championships Team Sprint silver with Steph Morton off limited preparation.
 
“The dream I had when I was 12 watching the Sydney Olympics with my dad feels as real as yesterday,” McCulloch said. “I’ve always had the Olympic spirit within me and I’m ecstatic to be able to be back competing.
 
“My motto into the world championships was “perfect preparation doesn’t predict”. This is the same kind of attitude I’ll be taking with me into Tokyo amidst all the uncertainty and nervousness in the world right now.
 
“Nothing changes for me in terms of my application to my training but a lot is changing in the way we train. As athletes, we are role models for everyone for health. We are taking quite serious steps in our training to ensure we are being responsible athletes but also people. We are following all the guidelines as set out by our medical professionals and we are prepared to face this challenge.
 
“We as humans are facing a challenge but we have also shown we are able to overcome. The world will recover from this and I believe everyone has within them part of the Olympic spirit, this is why the Olympics are so special - it brings the world together when we need it the most.
 
At just 19, Lucas Plapp will make his Olympic debut as the youngest member on the 2020 Track Team after a monumental rise in the past 12 months.
 
“I had a little tear in my eye when I found out I made the Tokyo Team, it was a pretty special moment and I was just speechless,” Plapp said.
 
“After the Brisbane World Cup [December 2019] I really started to believe I could make this Team.
 
“I’ve learned so much from [teammate] Sam Welsford from his experiences four years ago and the rest of the team create such a good environment to learn and train in – it helped me realise it’s where I want to be and helped me take my own performance to a new level.
 
After the Danish team broke the World Record held by Australia at the World Championships in February 2019, Plapp is looking forward to the challenge.
 
“It’s a new scenario now to be the hunter and not the hunted, we’ll be using that to our advantage to try to come out and show the world what we’re capable of.”
 
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Cycling Australia Steve Drake congratulated the athletes on their selection to Tokyo 2020.
 
“It is exciting to see a team with a rich blend of experienced Olympians and a number of rising stars set to make their debut, with all selections a testament to the hard work and performances of our athletes and to the commitment and dedication of our coaches, and performance support staff,” Mr Drake said.

“These are unprecedented times, with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic impacting communities across the world. The impacts to sports including cycling are widespread, but we will continue to work through these challenging times to ensure our athletes and staff remain healthy and prepared for the Games.”
 
With individual event determinations expected closer to the Games, the endurance athletes will compete across the Team Pursuit, Omnium and Madison events with sprinters taking on the Individual Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin events.
 
Today’s selection takes the selected Team size for Tokyo 2020 to 43 athletes. Cyclists in the road, BMX, BMX Freestyle and Mountain Bike disciplines are expected to be nominated and selected in the coming months.

Find out more with full athlete Bios at www.olympics.com.au/olympians

Over the next few months, the athletes and teams that will represent Australia in the five cycling disciplines - Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle - at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be announced. 

Below is a summary of the Olympic Qualification and Selection Timing situation as it currently stands.
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We understand this is ever-evolving and rapidly changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will await further updates from the AOC over the coming days and weeks. 

Table: Announcement Date, Events & Quota Places per cycling discipline

Cycling Australia can confirm that an Adelaide-based Australian Cycling Team staff member returned a positive test to COVID-19 on Monday evening 16 March.

The staff member returned to Adelaide on the evening of Wednesday 4 March from the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships which were held in Berlin, Germany. 

The staff member had minimal contact with fellow staff and athletes after returning from overseas and had no in-person contact with staff or athletes after beginning to experience symptoms. He is currently receiving appropriate medical care. 

The Adelaide Super-drome offices and training areas have been closed as a precautionary measure. The Super-drome has been cleaned and disinfected in preparation for return to work and training over the weekend, and when the team return a social distancing policy will be implemented to support ongoing risk management.

Simon Jones, Performance Director, Australian Cycling Team

The health and wellbeing of our athletes, staff and the broader public is our highest priority and that’s why we have responded quickly and thoroughly in this situation.

Our thoughts are with our team member as he continues to receive treatment and medical advice. 

Senior staff, including our team doctor, remain in regular communication to manage this situation and provide all the support required to athletes and staff in what are difficult times for all people all around the world

Today is day 25.

Kai is still in intensive care under 24-hour monitoring and support. A few weeks ago, doctors were not confident he would survive, but he has been fighting hard, and doctors are now more optimistic he will make it.

Kai has not woken up yet, so doctors don’t have any real idea of the extent of the injury. However, they do know he had a severe knock to the head, and they tell us rehabilitation will take many many months. They also said that Kai is young and extremely fit, which will really help.

At the moment Kai is hooked up to a number of crazy machines that are beeping, flashing, showing numbers and strange waveforms. He’s being fed intravenously and is on a respirator to help with his breathing. The nurses looking after Kai 24/7 are doing an amazing job and taking great care of him. The immediate goal is to get Kai off the respirator as soon as possible so he can move out of the Intensive Care Unit and onto the next step in the process.

We are staying in an Airbnb about 10 minutes’ walk from the hospital, and we visit Kai three or four times a day. Every Monday at 12:00 we have a meeting with the Neurosurgeons, ICU specialists, nurse and a social worker where we ask the hard questions, and they tell us they don’t have the answers. The reality is that it is still too early for a good prognosis, we are told Kai is progressing tiny steps at a time, and we really need to be patient. This is going to take a long time, and we don’t know what to expect.

Some time ago we were told it would be good to play music for Kai, so we took his mobile phone to the hospital and connected it to a Bluetooth speaker. He has a wide selection of music and particularly likes rap, some of the lyrics to the songs in his collection have a fair amount of explicit words beginning with the letter “f” or the word “mother”. The nurses like Kai’s collection, they don’t mind the lyrics and said that Kai has a great taste in music…… However, it would be awesome if people could create some new playlists for #KaiFight77 on Spotify so we can play them for him.

We are still staying positive and taking things day by day. The support and good wishes from everyone have been absolutely amazing and uplifting; we have seen message boards, signed banners, #KaiFight77 stickers on helmets, Kai’s photo on Facebook posts and much more. It’s very humbling to know how many people are concerned about Kai both from Australia and internationally.

We are on social media and have heard fantastic stories of fund-raising events for Kai, thank you all so very much for this. The funds will be necessary for Kai as he takes the long trip through rehabilitation.

We are also in the process of aligning with a wonderful organisation called Road 2 Recovery https://road2recovery.com/ this is the organisation that helped Sam Willoughby through difficult times over the past few years. Expect to see some communication from R2R in the future.

Kai has always been positive in the face of adversity. The quote below is from an Instagram post he made on 11 October 2019, it seems to be relevant now too.

“Thank you all for your continued support! We’ll keep moving forward.”

Martin, Yuki, Saya
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#KaiFight77

Australia has finished the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with three medals after Stephanie Morton won a bronze medal in the final event of the Championships, the women's keirin.

Morton's bronze added to the team sprint silver won with Kaarle McCulloch on the opening day of competition. All three of Australia's medals came through the sprint squad with Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson, and Thomas Cornish winning team sprint bronze on day one. 

Despite Australia exiting a Track World Championships without a gold medal for the first time in twelve years, Australian Cycling Team Performance Director Simon Jones remains focussed on the team's overarching strategy which is aiming to deliver success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

"Australia has had a pretty glittering history of winning world titles - in 2017 we won more world titles than you could poke a stick at and that is not what we are trying to achieve this year," Jones said. 

"We want to win in Tokyo. Yes, we were aiming for podium performances here, or very close to, and you can't hide the fact we have come up short in some areas. But we have to learn from it. 

"We tried several different things here, and we have to settle on a plan and then train to it. Now we have finished this period. We gave everyone opportunities, and now we have to gather the facts and make some decisions now.

"There are five months to the Games, which is a long time." 

Jones was impressed by the results of debutants Maeve Plouffe, 20, Luke Plapp, 19, and Tom Cornish, 20, who moved into the team via the Podium Potential Academy. 
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"The youngsters did very well, it is great to see, and that is a testament to the Academy in that we are providing opportunities to younger talent. They also provide upward pressure, and that is really good to see."

Stephanie Morton won her maiden World Championship keirin medal in a dramatic end to the women's keirin final in Berlin. 
"It was one of those days where I was in the groove, I was doing things right, I made minimal mistakes, and the main thing was I was having fun, and it all paid off." said Morton. 

Three tactically strong rides through the early rounds, including a win in the semi-final, saw Morton move comfortably into the final. Coming into the bell lap, Morton worked herself into second position on the wheel of the form rider of the week in Germany's Emma Hinze, already a dual gold medallist at these World Championships.

As the riders entered the final corner, Korea's Lee Hyejin came from underneath, pushing Morton out of the sprinter's lane and almost causing the Australian to crash as they entered the finishing straight.

While Morton juggled to keep her bike upright, Lee moved past her and rode to the silver medal behind Hinze, with Morton crossing the line third.

"Out of turn four I thought I was going to come down, but I managed to stay upright and power through to the line for bronze," described Morton. "I was pretty happy with that because the old me probably would have backed off the pedals a bit and got a bit flustered. That shows you what racing does, and it gives you that confidence." 

Morton began her 2020 Worlds campaign with silver in the team sprint with Kaarle McCulloch, the emotional win coming after an interrupted lead into the Championships for the pairing due to injuries. Morton then posted a personal best (10.483) in the flying 200m sprint qualifying, before an earlier than expected exit in the round 1/8. 

"I am super happy with the results after not having a full season of training I would have liked," explained Morton. "I came in here without the best legs, so it made me rely on all my skills, and we worked on the tactics, we tried to execute the races well. 

“Yes it puts you into a corner, but you also know when the legs are there, everything will come together."

Morton will head back into training in Adelaide next Friday and will await the Australian Olympic Team announcement on 18 March. Despite the team not winning gold in Berlin during the week, Morton remains committed to the team's ultimate goal in 2020. 

"The world has stepped up, but we haven't stepped down," Morton said. "Yes, it is hard when you think back to how successful we were last year, but we have Tokyo around the corner.

"Traditionally we come out to the Worlds before a Games and do well, and we can't convert.  
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"We came here with a plan, and we are where we need to be."

Two-time Madison world champion Cameron Meyer and Sam Welsford finished fifteenth in the men's 50-kilometre Madison.  
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With Denmark and New Zealand setting the early tempo in the 200-lap race, the Australian team, which paired up to win Madison gold at the Brisbane World Cup last December, opened its points tally in two of the first four of the intermediate sprint points offered every ten laps.  

After the fourth sprint, Denmark made the first major move of the day with a solo lap, adding twenty bonus points, moving them to 36 points. 

With New Zealand, Italy, France and Netherlands amassing points over the next 50-laps, Australia added to its score in the ninth sprint and at the halfway mark were poised at fifth overall on 7 points behind Denmark on 47points. 

Germany went on the attack shortly after but was closely followed by the Danes and the Netherlands which brought the race back together. With 75 laps remaining, Denmark and New Zealand had a stranglehold on the top of the standings, while Australia sat just inside the top ten on 7 points. 

By figuring across the next few sprints, Germany and the Netherlands climbed into podium contention inside the final 50 laps. However, Denmark continued to pile on the points and with a lead of 36 points at 40 laps remaining, had the rainbows all but secured. 

Australia's hope of a minor medal remained mathematically possible as they were within twenty points of third-place inside the final thirty laps. However, their chances came to an end moments later when they, along with the United States, were lapped by the field which moved them to thirteenth and forty points away from the podium. 
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A thrilling final four-way sprint between New Zealand, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany resulted in New Zealand's Aaron Gate and Campbell Stewart (33 points) taking the silver and the hometown pairing of Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt (32 points) the bronze medal. 

It was the Danish pairing of Lasse Norman Hanssen - who formed part of the world record-breaking team pursuit outfit on day one - and Michael Morkov took gold on 62 points. 

2019 world champion Alexandra Manly finished fourteenth in the women's points race won by Elinor Barker who claimed Great Britain's first gold medal of the week. 

Women’s Madison 120 laps / 30km 

One of the fastest ever World Championship Madison took its toll on the Australian pairing of Annette Edmondson and Amy Cure with the duo unable to complete the 120-lap final in Berlin. 

Edmondson’s dual 2019-20 World Cup gold medals and Cure’s two career World Championship medals in the discipline placed Australia as one of the favourites leading in, and the pair followed their plan during the first thirty laps after figuring in the first two sprint points. 

Reigning champions the Netherlands upped the pace shortly after, with France leading a race-changing attack at the halfway mark which splintered the field across the length of the track.

With the average pace the race ticking over the 50-kilometre an hour mark, and the physical intensity causing several crashes, the Aussie pairing fell off the pace and were lapped by the main bunch inside the final 30 laps. The Australian duo then pulled out of the race with 15 laps remaining. 

“We [Australia] had a lot of success as pairings in the World Cups this season, and we felt we knew what to expect,” said a disappointed Edmondson following the race. “We have been working so hard at home as a squad for the Madison, and we feel we were as mentally and tactically prepared as we could have been. 

“So I will take responsibility for that result because Amy had good legs. She was making really good decisions. I was making good decisions at the start of the race, I thought we were on, but as the race went on, I had no legs. I knew what I needed to do, but my legs couldn’t take me to do them.” 

While World Championships marked Edmondson’s return to competition after recovering from a broken collarbone sustained at December’s Track Cycling World Cup, the twenty-eight-year-old wasn’t using that as an excuse for the result. 

“I wouldn’t have put my hand up to race this race if I didn’t think I was mentally and physically prepared. Obviously, it was a slightly different prep, but I felt fitter than I have before. 

“Amy’s back has been average over the last few months, but she has been back on top, and she was ready to go as well. We both believed we could do it.”

Kirsten Wild and Amy Pieters of The Netherlands (36pts) defended their title in emphatic style, with France (24pts) and Italy (20pts) joining them on the podium. 

Men’s Omnium

Cameron Meyer launched a thrilling comeback late in the points race to secure sixth overall in the men’s omnium. 

Meyer, who claimed World Cup gold in the event last December, opened his 2020 World Championship omnium campaign with fourteenth in the scratch race, before placing eleventh in a hectic tempo race. 

Despite crashing early in the elimination race, commissaires allowed Meyer to rejoin the race and his eighth-place moved him eleventh overall on 60 points, 52 behind France’s 2017 world champion Benjamin Thomas. 

In the points race, Meyer attempted several attacks early but the field kept the Australian in check. Meyer lead a late breakaway with Britain’s Matthew Walls, and such was the pace of the race, it took nearly forty laps for the pair to take the lap on the field.

The twenty points rocketed Meyer into sixth overall however as it came with ten laps remaining, this is where he remained on the final standings. 

Benjamin Thomas held off a late surge by the Netherlands’ Jan Willem van Schip to take gold over the Dutch cyclist with Walls taking the bronze medal.  

Meyer returns to the track on the final day of competition for the men’s Madison, with the two-time world champion to team with Sam Welsford for the 200-lap/50-kilometre race. 

Women’s 3km Individual pursuit    

Twenty-year-old Maeve Plouffe continued to impress on debut with a top ten finish in the 3000m individual pursuit. The reigning national champion Plouffe clocked 3mins 26.742secs for the 12-lap event, bettering her personal best by five seconds which set only four months ago at the Oceania Championships. 

“The individual pursuit is an event I really enjoy riding, as weird as that sounds,” Plouffe said. “So to get the opportunity to ride it this week was amazing.” 

It has been a rapid rise for the Adelaide cyclist who joined the Australian Cycling Team’s Podium Potential Academy in 2018, before becoming a train-on member of the Podium squad late in 2019. Since then, Plouffe has claimed the World Cup team pursuit gold and silver and impressed while on her World Championships debut this week. 

“People are congratulating me on my steep trajectory, but I wouldn’t have had it if I didn’t get to train with the squad every single day,” said Plouffe. “My results started to improve when I got to train with them once a week. The squad are hard racers, but they are also hard trainers. They go out every day in training and rip their legs, and it is motivating to be with them.” 

Plouffe believes the disappointment of finishing off the podium this week will fuel the squad as they continue their charge toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

“Even though we have been a little disappointed this week with the team pursuits, It is almost a blessing in disguise coming out and seeing where the world is at,” Plouffe said. “Everyone says that Tokyo is only five months away, but I think you can achieve a lot in five months.”

“And I have never had an amazing result off the back of an awesome result because sometimes you need a kick in the guts to come back strong.”

2019 world champion Ashlee Ankudinoff finished in fourteenth position in a time of 3mins 28.118secs. 

Chloe Dygert claimed her third world title in the event in four years, breaking the world record twice on the day (3:16.937).

Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson and Thomas Cornish surged to bronze in the team sprint in what was Australia’s highest finish at a World Championships in eight years. 

With Matthew Glaetzer withdrawing on the eve of the Championships due to a leg injury, Podium Potential Academy member Cornish, 20, received a call up for his maiden elite World Championships. 

The addition of Cornish meant a reshuffle of positions within the team for the three-lap event, with the youngster moving into the first-wheel position and Richardson to third. Despite the changes, the Australian trio opened their 2020 campaign with the fourth-fastest qualifying time and a combination-best time (42.996), before powering into the bronze medal final by defeating Poland in the first round (43.044). 

The trio then scorched France to take the bronze medal with another combination-best time of 42.829secs to put Australia on the podium for the first time since 2012. The group averaged 63km per hour over the three laps. ​

Tom Cornish - “I didn’t think this would be the outcome, to be honest. I just took it race by race today and it came together. I’m just really happy how I rode and the team rode.” 

Nathan Hart - “It was unfortunate with Matt Glaetzer getting injured quite recently, but we backed Tom Cornish here and he delivered exceptionally today. It was really great to string three solid rides together. I have never podiumed since my first champs in 2014, so this is definitely a highlight of my career so far.” 

Matthew Richardson - “We just took it ride by ride, being the starter, {then] going to third wheel was a challenge, but I just dug deep and took it home for the boys.”

The Netherlands took an emphatic gold medal, setting world records in both qualifying and the final.

Reigning world champions Stephanie Morton and Kaarle McCulloch shook off recent injury setbacks with a stunning silver medal performance in the team sprint. 

Since winning their maiden world title as a pairing last February, knee surgery for Morton and a back complaint for McCulloch saw them race internationally just once over the last twelve months, a gold medal performance at the Oceania Championships last October. 

On Wednesday in Berlin, the team picked up where they left off by clocking the third-fastest time of qualifying (32.696). They progressed to the final by defeating Mexico with the second-fastest time of the first round (32.353) averaging 55.6kmh, just outside of their national record set one year ago en route to the world title. 

Coming up against the hometown favourites, Germany, in the final, the pair once again nudged their national record (32.384) but the strong German team rode the parochial crowd wave to gold in a time of 32.163secs. 

Stephanie Morton - “I think we are the happiest silver medallists you have ever met. We had to go through some pretty dark clouds to even look at the rainbows here, so to come away with the silver I think I am even more stoked than last year. 


“We knew we had to focus on the things we could control. We kept it simple, we had our jobs and usually when you do that, the times will follow. So to be just a smidgen off our best, we are more than happy about that. 

Kaarle McCulloch - “I am just so proud that despite everything that has happened this last year, we kept training and we kept believing and we walked away with silver.” 

“Even this morning we had a little bit of a shake-up, so just to be out there in the final is next level, it really makes us believe we can do this in five months time [In Tokyo}. The world hasn’t seen the best of us yet, so that is really exciting.

After nearly two years of collaborative research and development, Argon 18, in partnership with Cycling Australia, Zipp, Monash University and the University of Adelaide, is thrilled to unveil the result of the new 2020 Electron Pro.

With cutting-edge aero optimisation and stiffness to match the massive outputs of the world’s most powerful riders, the new Electron Pro is ready to make its mark on the world stage in 2020.

Top athletes know that it takes a team to reach the podium of the world’s most prestigious sporting events – and it took a team to create the machine to get them there.

“This project brought together a team committed to innovation, optimisation, and performance,” says Martin Faubert, VP Product, Argon 18. “By combining resources to develop the best possible equipment, we now have a bike that pushes the boundaries in every way, giving riders every possible advantage in the quest for gold.”

“We are really proud of this bike, and it’s through real teamwork and collaboration that Argon 18 and Zipp have developed this bike for us,” says Simon Jones, Performance Director at Cycling Australia. “To have the bike on time is excellent, as it gives all the riders time to get used to the feeling, which they all have done very quickly. I want to thank everyone at Argon 18, Zipp and CA who worked together - across many time zones - to deliver our new bike.”

The most immediately noticeable features on the new Electron Pro are the radically slender pursuit fork coupled with the custom-designed Zipp Super-9 Tubular Track Disc AUS wheelset, as well as the custom-moulded sprint handlebars and pursuit extensions. The bike also features an integrated timing chip, for a fully loaded velodrome winner.

The new Electron Pro:

• Over 4500 hours of engineering: design, modelling and testing.
• For both sprint and pursuit configuration, drag has been decreased and stiffness increased to provide a higher-performing frameset, as benchmarked against the previous-generation Electron Pro.
• Extensive work was done developing the narrow fork, reducing the fork drag by up to 30% compared to the previous-generation Electron Pro.
• The biggest aero gains were made by working closely with athletes, coaches and Cycling Australia’s aerodynamicist to achieve precise rider position, optimising both the lowest drag and highest power output. To achieve that we have developed an integrated drop bar for bunch races, and sprint and custom extension bars for the team pursuit.  
• The strongest athletes need the strongest equipment. We, therefore, raised the maximum resistance up to 350kgf - more than 3x the load recommended for the BB by ISO test standards. We did the same thing for the cockpit, where we doubled the load compared to ISO standards for fatigue and ultimate strength testing.

Baker has excelled over the last twelve months in the Madison, claiming World Championship silver (with Cure) and triple World Cup gold during the recent 2019-20 season (twice with Edmondson twice and once with Manly). 
 
As the Australian team continues to determine the best possible options and combinations for all three endurance events at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Cure and Edmondson have been slated to race the Madison in Berlin. 
 
Baker has been provided with an individual opportunity in the third Olympic event, the four-event omnium, which she will contest on Friday. 

“It is a great opportunity for us in Berlin. It is our last chance at a major competition to test everything out before the Olympics,” said Baker. “We want to trial everything we can, to make sure we have the best Madison pairing in Tokyo, and the best team pursuit squad in Tokyo. 

“I am super excited to take on the omnium, it will be my first at this level, so I will be taking each event as it comes and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do.”

In the remaining endurance events, Ankudinoff will look to defend her individual pursuit crown with national champion Plouffe also set to ride the individual race against the clock. 

Alexandra Manly will line up to defend her title in the points race and will also contest the scratch race. 

AUSTRALIAN SCHEDULE

DATE (IN AUS)    TIME (AEDT)

Thurs 27/2: 430am - 8am
W - Scratch 10 km - Alexandra Manly
W Team Pursuit - Qualifying 11pm AEDT
    
Fri 28/2: 430am - 730am
W - Team Pursuit - Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker, Annette Edmondson, Maeve Plouffe
    
Sat 29/2: 430am - 815am
W - Omnium - Georgia Baker
    
Sun 1/3: 230am - 6am
W -  Madison 30 km - Annette Edmondson/Amy Cure
W - Individual pursuit - Ashlee Ankudinoff; Maeve Plouffe
    
Mon 2/3: 12am-3am
W - Points race 25 km - Alexandra Manly

FOLLOW

​WATCH 

Live on FOXSPORTS Australia Channel 506
https://www.foxtel.com.au/tv-guide/search?q=world%20championships 

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ENDURANCE 

• Ashlee Ankudinoff - St George CC, NSW - 2019 individual & team pursuit world champion
• Georgia Baker - Northern Districts CC, TAS - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Amy Cure - Mersey Valley Devonport CC, TAS - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Annette Edmondson - Norwood CC, SA - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Alexandra Manly - Central Districts CC, SA - 2019 points race & team pursuit world champion
• Maeve Plouffe - Port Adelaide CC, SA - World Championship debut
• Leigh Howard - Geelong CC, VIC - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Cameron Meyer - Midland CC, WA - 9-time career world champion 
• Alexander Porter - Scotch College CC, SA - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Cameron Scott - St George CC, NSW - 2019 team pursuit world champion
• Samuel Welsford - Northern Beaches CC, WA - 2019 scratch & team pursuit world champion
• Luke Plapp - Brunswick CC, VIC - World Championship debut

​
Australia heads into the Championships as the defending champions in five events - men's and women's team pursuit; men's scratch, women's points race and women's individual pursuit. 

Australia's title defence in the men's team pursuit will begin in the opening session and will feature world record holders Sam Welsford, Alexander Porter, Leigh Howard, plus Cameron Scott. 

Podium Potential Academy member Luke Plapp comes into the team to replace world champion and world record holder Kelland O'Brien who will not race the World Championships as he continues his recovery from a broken collarbone sustained in January. Plapp, a dual 2018 junior world champion, will make his elite Worlds debut in the individual pursuit and is listed as a reserve for the team pursuit. 

Nine-time career world champion Cameron Meyer will take on the omnium, and the Madison with Sam Welsford, while Welsford will take to the track in defence of his scratch race world title. 

SCHEDULE - DATE (IN AUS); TIME (AEDT)

Thurs 27/2 430am - 8am

• W - Scratch 10km    Alexandra Manly
• W - Team Sprint    Stephanie Morton/Kaarle McCulloch
• M - Team Sprint    Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson, Thomas Cornish
• M & W Team Pursuit    Qualifying 11pm AEDT

    
Fri 28/2  430am - 730am

• M - Team Pursuit   Leigh Howard, Sam Welsford, Cameron Scott, Alexander Porter
• M -  Scratch 15km    Sam Welsford 
• M - Keirin   NA
• W - Team Pursuit   Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker, Annette Edmondson, Maeve Plouffe
• W - Sprint   Qualifying 1230am 

    
Sat 29/2   430am - 815am

• M - Points race 40km   TBC
• M -  Kilometre Time Trial   Cameron Scott, Alexander Porter
• M - Individual Pursuit    Luke Plapp
• W - Omnium    Georgia Baker
• W - Sprint    Stephanie Morton; Kaarle McCulloch

    
Sun 1/3   230am - 6am

• W - 500m Time Trial    Kaarle McCulloch
• W -  Madison 30km    Annette Edmondson/Amy Cure
• W - Individual pursuit    Ashlee Ankudinoff; Maeve Plouffe
• M - Omnium    Cameron Meyer
• M - Sprint    Qualifying 9pm 

    
Mon 2/3   12am-3am

• W - Points Race 25km    Alexandra Manly
• M -  Madison 50km    Cameron Meyer/Sam Welsford 
• W - Keirin    Stephanie Morton
• M - Sprint    Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson

​​WATCH 

Live on FOXSPORTS Australia Channel 506

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#Berlin2020

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While she has established herself as one of the masters of women’s sprinting over the past four years, Morton taps into knowledge gained while racing as an apprentice under Anna Meares at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

“It is a different experience leading into these Games, ahead of Rio I was the new kid on the block with Anna (Meares) who had all that experience and four years later I am one of the more experienced ones,” said Morton, who awaits the Australian Olympic Team announcement scheduled for March 18. 

“But I think that is why I feel like I am in such a good place because there are no unknowns for me. 

“I can take comfort and confidence knowing I have done this before, I know what the emotions are, what my body does, and that experience is what I am banking on.” 

Morton and McCulloch will take on the team sprint on Wednesday’s opening day of competition. The women’s sprinters will be in action across all five days with Morton to also contest the individual sprint and keirin.  McCulloch will race the team sprint, individual sprint and 500m time trial. 

And they will do so on the team’s soon to be launched new Argon and Zipp bikes. 

“Argon and Zipp have produced a great new bike. The transition has been really straightforward as it can be quite daunting to change so close to Worlds and the Games,” said Morton. “But it is a great bike, a fast bike, and looking forward to christening it in Berlin.”

#Berlin2020

🌈 Track Cycling World Championships 2020 Berlin
🗓 February 26 - March 1
🇦🇺 Team Australia

Cycling Australia is pleased to announce the athletes selected to the Australian Team to contest the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships to be held in Belgium in June. 

The 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships will be held in Ostend, Belgium, from 4-7 June with the time trial and road race held across four disciplines Handbike (H), Cycle (C), Tri-cycle (T) and Tandem. 

The team features nine-time world champion Carol Cooke (VIC), who claimed both road and time trial world titles in 2019, and reigning time trial world champions Emily Petricola (VIC), Alistair Donohoe (VIC) and Darren Hicks (SA). 

2019 World Championship medalists Meg Lemon (SA) and Stuart Jones (NSW), 2016 Paralympic Games silver medalist Stuart Tripp (VIC) and Grant Allen (SA), round out the eight-member team. 

The Championships will be one of the final stops for Australia’s para-cyclists ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

“In line with our Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games strategy, we have selected a strong team to compete in Belgium,” said Warren McDonald, Para-cycling Technical Director, Cycling Australia. 

“After our recent success at the 2020 Para-cycling Track World Championships in Canada, I am confident we can continue this trajectory through Belgium as we close in on the Paralympic Games.”

The road cycling competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will be held 1-4 September. 
​
Australian Team for 2020 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships 

• Carol Cooke (VIC) T2 - 2019 road & time trial world champion 
• Alistair Donohoe (VIC) C5 - 2019 time trial world champion
• Darren Hicks (SA) C2 - 2019 time trial world champion
• Stuart Jones (NSW) T2 - 2019 World Championships time trial silver medallist 
• Meg Lemon (SA) C4 - 2019 World Championships road & time trial bronze medallist  
• Emily Petricola (VIC) C4  - 2019 time trial world champion
• Stuart Tripp (VIC) H5 - 2019 World Championships 5th road; 4th time trial 
• Grant Allen (SA) H4 - 2019 Canada World Cup silver &2019 Italian World Cup bronze

After lots of food and Netflix on the rest day, it was time for the Cadel Evans / Deakin University Great Ocean Road Race, the first Women’s World Tour race in the Southern Hemisphere. Geelong put on a good demonstration of typical Victorian weather going from scorching hot to freezing cold and windy.

The aim of the race was to protect Ruby as much as possible and the most crucial moments of the race was in the crosswinds and before the first climb. We were really happy with how well we rode as a team, staying together and positioning well, which was something we had been working on all summer.  

Unfortunately with about twenty kilometres to go there was a huge crash at the bottom of a descent (before the drag towards the final QOM) and Anya, Nicole and myself came down. Anya and I were lucky enough to get back up unscathed and finish the race. Nicole, unfortunately, crashed hard and was taken to hospital. Once again, just like Torquay, Ruby showed she’s one of the best, pulling off an incredible twelfth in her first race against the World Tour Professionals. 

Looking back on my week, it lived up to a lot of my expectations and I was pleasantly surprised with how I handled the hype of world tour racing. I was lucky enough to have some experienced girls around me and the incredible staff whose support I am very grateful to have. 

I’m keen to take what I’ve learnt to the Herald Sun Tour with ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast!

The opening two rounds of the 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup were held in Shepparton on February 1-2 with Saya Sakakibara and Anthony Dean finding a home soil podium.  

The World Cups will be one of the last chances for riders to perform and grab qualifying points before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Eyeing a maiden Olympic selection, Saya Sakakibara, 20, kickstarted her 2020 season with silver in round one behind reigning world champion Alise Willoughby (USA) and 2016 Olympic gold medallist Marian Pajon (COL). Watch Round 1.
 
In round two, Sakakibara grabbed fourth after fighting back following a tangle at the first berm of the race won by Willoughby. Watch Round 2.

"First home World Cup, Saturday for round one I was feeling really good, running lane one all day. In the final, I knew I had a good gate but just couldn't execute. Stuck in second. Close, but not close enough," said Sakakibara. "On Sunday for round two, it was tough conditions, but I felt I adapted really well. I almost went down in the first corner, but just held it and when I saw I was still in third I thought I was ok, but just couldn't catch back up when I dropped to fourth.  Fourth is not too bad, definitely wanted a lot more than that but we have next weekend in Bathurst."

2016 Olympic finalist Anthony Dean was edged by world number one Niek Kimmann (NED) in round one to take silver - Watch Round 1. A bad gate start hampered his winning chances in round two despite moving through the field from eighth to finish just off the podium in fourth. Watch Round 2.

"Little mistake in the final and I hit the start, was looking for the win after a flawless day to that point. But I am still happy with the weekend and really looking forward to next weekend.  Really want to get that win," Anthony Dean. 

Dual Olympian and eight-time world champion Caroline Buchanan continued her comeback with a quarter-final appearance in round one before progressing to her first semi-final in four seasons in round two. 

"Straight in the deep end, felt a lot of nerves being out two and a half year from the WorldTour," said Buchana. "The level of the sport has progressed so far, from the quarterfinals onwards it feels like a final. Being in the mix of the racing felt different but I took a lot of wins from Saturday's racing and I wanted to make it into the semi finals for Sunday which I did. 

"I had a big smile on me face when the camera came across me in that semi final, it has been a hell of a journey to get back here."

A tough weekend for Kai Sakakibara who made it through to the semi finals on Sunday. 

"A bit of a rough weekend for me, finishing Saturday in the 1/8th final, and then coming unstuck in the semi final today. I tiis a little bi of a disappointing weekend knowing how good I have been going. My biggest upset is not being able to replicate what I have been doing in training. But I am happy with where I am heading and I am really looking forward to the next two rounds in Bathurst."

The action moves to New South Wales town of Bathurst on February 8-9 for rounds three and four. 

• World Cup Website https://www.bmxworldcup.com/ 
• UCI BMX Results https://www.uci.org/bmx-racing/results 

The Australian Cycling Team has finished third on the medal tally at the 2020 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships held in Milton, Canada, January 30 to February 2. 

The Australian Team's eight athletes won a total of eight gold, one silver and one bronze, with powerhouse China the only nation to win more gold with nine. Only China (21), Great Britain (14) and the USA (12) won more total medals.

Triple rainbows for Emily Petricola (VIC), dual crowns for Amanda Reid (NSW), and gold to Paige Greco (SA), David Nicholas (QLD) and Alistair Donohoe (VIC) highlighted the Championships.

"I am very pleased from the solid performances from the targeted group of athletes we selected," said Warren McDonald, Para-cycling Technical Director, Cycling Australia. 

"To finish so high on the medal table, while competing against teams over twice our size, is a testament to the hard work and commitment from all of our athletes and staff. 

"While we recognise there is still work to be done, I am confident the athletes and the high-performance team behind them are on a trajectory for a successful campaign at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games."

Medals (8 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
​

• Emily Petricola (VIC) C4 - Gold individual pursuit, scratch race, omnium
• Amanda Reid (NSW) C2 - Gold time trial, omnium 
• David Nicholas (QLD) C3 - Gold individual pursuit 
• Alistair Donohoe (VIC) C5 - Gold scratch race 
• Paige Greco (SA) C3 - Gold individual pursuit 
• Meg Lemon (SA) C4 - Silver individual pursuit
• Gordon Allan (NSW) C2 - Bronze time trial

Event Summaries

Head to https://www.australiancyclingteam.com/2020paratrackworlds.html