When Australian Cycling Team track sprinter Matthew Glaetzer had a sore neck in October, his first thought was that he suffered a bulged disc following a substantial period of strength training.  

Earlier this month, Glaetzer was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, with the South Australian dual world champion and dual Olympian undergoing surgery last week to remove the cancerous growth. 

“This all came about from me pulling up a bit sore in early October after doing a heavy leg press effort. I thought I had strained my neck somehow. 

“Then leading up to and at October’s Oceania Championships, I was seeing the physio almost every day, and it just wasn’t getting better at the rate that it should’ve been.”

Following the insistence of Australian Cycling Team staff, Glaetzer underwent further tests in Adelaide to find the underlying cause, with an MRI and ultrasound revealing nodules on his thyroid gland.

It wasn’t until he was hurriedly moved to the top of specialists’ waiting lists over the coming days that Glaetzer suspected it wasn’t due to him going too hard in the gym. 

“They had me contact my doctor in the next hour, have a CT scan and a biopsy. That afternoon was pretty hectic seeing specialists, so I had a feeling that it was probably going down the line that I didn’t want it to.”

Following the scans, Glaetzer continued his regular schedule, making a trip to Melbourne the next day for a session in the Monash University wind tunnel for Olympic equipment testing. 

On the way home in the taxi, Glaetzer received the phone call that would change his life. The doctor called to deliver the news he had thyroid cancer, with a silver lining that it was the most treatable form.

The dual world champion underwent surgery early last week and has been advised to allow the wound in his neck to heal and to keep his heart rate and blood pressure under control before resuming normal training in a few weeks. 

“You never want to hear that you’ve got cancer, it’s got such an ominous connotation to it, and it’s pretty heavy. And I’m there with some taxi driver next to me, and I’ve just been notified that I’ve got cancer and you need to take a moment and be ok. 

“But I anticipated this throughout the process, I was preparing myself for the worst-case scenario. I figured there's nothing I can do about it, at this point worrying about it wasn’t going to make it better. 

“So I drew on my faith in God, I knew that he had it under control. 

“I am thankful for the type of cancer that I do have and that it is treatable. I am grateful for the fact that my medical team caught it when they did, that they went through the steps, that they were very diligent in checking my sore neck that has then led to catching this.” 

Glaetzer is resolved not to let this stop his pursuit of a third Australian Olympic Team selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“It helps me to deal with it if I downplay it, obviously I know it’s very serious, but at the same time, it’s very treatable. So it is now about what’s the plan from here, how can I minimise its impact on myself as an athlete. 

“Because I don't want to stop being an athlete anytime soon, I love what I do.  

“I’m not going to stop chasing the Olympics and trying to be the best in the world, it’s what I love to do. 

“It puts everything into perspective, but I’m not going to let this stop me. If I’m able to, and it's safe to, I'm not going to let this have power over what I want to do.

“It’s just going to set me up for my next charge and make me stronger.” 

Glaetzer still plans to contest two UCI Track World Cups in New Zealand and Brisbane in December, following which he will have further treatment in the form of iodine tablets. 

“I’m planning to go to the Cambridge and Brisbane World Cups to continue my preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Then after the World Cups is when the next part of my treatment happens and that might knock me around for a bit. 

“But we have a rest week after the Brisbane World Cup anyway so it fits in relatively well to our preparation and the impact shouldn’t be too severe if all goes well.”

In addition to the support from his family and church congregation, Glaetzer is grateful for the support of the Australian Cycling Team. 

“The support network I have is incredible, the coaches, the medical staff and my church community who I told about the details have given me support, and it was a really good tight-knit group of people who were close to me and that were supporting me through the secret stage and keeping it under wraps up until the surgery. 

“It’s a pretty massive elephant in the room for me, so it helped me knowing my teammates knew, so if I got upset or if they saw something a bit unusual on a normal training day, they would know why and that helped me. 

“It’s a credit to the team we have here at Cycling Australia, and it’s about more than just cycling. We care about each other, we care about each other outside of cycling, and that’s shown through the last two weeks.”

With a favourable prognosis due to catching the cancer so early, Glaetzer is calling on all men to make sure they have regular health checks. 

“Going through everything that I have, it has just highlighted that if there is anything unusual or if there’s something that’s not normal to you, then you need to go and get it checked. 

“In my case, I’m grateful that I had a sore neck and that I went through the super detailed process of checking it. 

“So many guys have the ‘yeah that’ll be right, it’ll get better’ mentality, but you don't know what it could be, or how it could impact you and your family in the future. 

“So I just recommend to blokes that if there's anything unusual, just go and find out what's going on.

The Australian Cycling Team will open the 2020 track season at the 2020 Oceania Track Championships from October 16-19. 

• Event: Oceania Track Championships
• Date: 16 -19 October 2019
• Location: SIT Zero Fees Velodrome Surrey Road Invercargill
• Live Stream: Watch all sessions live via Cycling Southland
• Results: Results by event
• Program: Complete 2020 event programme

The Championships opens a busy summer of track cycling which included a 2019-2020 UCI Track World Cup season that will take in Brisbane for Round Five from 13-15 December.  
 
Reigning world champions in action include Steph Morton and Kaarle McCulloch will sport their rainbow jerseys in the team sprint, while also contesting the keirin and sprint. 

In the endurance events, points race world champion Alex Manly and team pursuit world champion Amy Cure will line up in the points race, Omnium and will team up in the Madison. 

Sam Welsford will don his rainbow bands in the scratch race and will pair with team pursuit world champion Kell O'Brien in the Madison. The duo will also take on the Omnium. 

Matt Glaetzer, Nathan Hart and Podium Potential Academy (PPA) athlete Matt Richardson will comprise the men's team sprint outfit, and will also line up in the keirin and sprint. 

The team pursuit outfits for Australia will be comprised of PPA riders in Luke Plapp, Godfrey Slattery, Conor Leahy, Alexandra Martin-Wallace, Sophie Edwards, Maeve Plouffe and Samantha De Riter.

Fellow PPA members Holly Takos and Tom Clarke will be in action in the sprint events. 

In addition to continental honours, riders will compete for valuable UCI points that will go towards Olympic qualification. 

A live results link and live streaming details will be available closer to the event. 

Australian Team

Sprint 

• Matt Glaetzer
• Nathan Hart
• Matt Richardson* 
• Tom Clarke*
• Steph Morton
• Kaarle McCulloch
• Holly Takos*

Endurance

• Amy Cure                             
• Alex Manly
• Alexandra Martin-Wallace*
• Sophie Edwards*
• Maeve Plouffe*
• Samantha De Riter*  
• Kell O'Brien*
• Sam Welsford*
• Luke Plapp*
• Godfrey Slattery*
• Conor Leahy*

* Podium Potential Academy

Details

• Event: Oceania Track Championships
• Date: 16 -19 October 2019
• Location: SIT Zero Fees Velodrome Surrey Road Invercargill
• Live Stream: Watch all sessions live via Cycling Southland
• Results: Results by event
• Program: Complete 2020 event programme

“Pretty cool to be here, it is an amazing place to have the finish line for the Olympic Games, will certainly be a great spectacle with the grandstands,” Amanda Spratt, 2018 World Championship road race silver medallist. 

“It is very different having such wide roads to race on, this is very different for us. But it is about picking which lines to take, so it has been really valuable to be here and ride the course.”

Greco who is aiming for selection to the Australian Paralympic team which will contest the Paralympic Games road race, individual time trial and team relay events, could picture the atmosphere expected in twelve months time. 

“Good to come here ahead of the Games to learn about the heat, to feel the atmosphere of being at the track, it is exciting knowing how big it will be next year with the crowd.” ​

With one year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Kaarle McCulloch is gearing up for the ride of her career.

The London 2012 Olympic Games team sprint bronze medallist with Anna Meares is enjoying some of the best form of her career in 2019 with a triple World Championship medal haul including the team sprint world title with Stephanie Morton. 

"Things are going really well for me this time around," said McCulloch, 31. "I became World Champion in February with Stephanie Morton in the Team Sprint, and we're just getting faster and faster every time we get on the track together. I think we're in a good spot."

McCulloch is hoping to claim her second Olympic team nod and is hungry after narrowly missing selection for the 2016 Rio Games.  The veteran knows the task ahead is tough and long, but will be using all of the experience gained over the past twelve years within the Australian Cycling Team program. 

"Everything seems to be coming together for me, I feel in a good position, everything I have learned from my experiences over the last three Olympic cycles is holding me in a good place," she added. "Really looking forward to seeing what I can do in Tokyo. When it comes to race day in Tokyo, I will know I have done everything I possibly could have done and whatever happens, happens." 

McCulloch, along with Morton, Matthew Glaetzer and Nathan Hart will head to Colorado in the USA in late July for a three-week altitude training camp.

The track cyclists will then turn their attentions to the Oceania Track Championships in New Zealand (October), 2019-20 UCI Track World Cups in Hong Kong and Brisbane (November/December), followed by the 2020 UCI Track World Championships in Germany (February), 

July 24, 2019 marks one year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

THE TEAM 

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) hopes to send the biggest Team ever to leave Australian shores, with cyclists set to make up a strong part of the green and gold contingent. 

​Cycling Australia (CA) will consider athletes for nomination to the AOC that it believes can achieve or contribute to Gold medal winning performances at the Olympic Games. CA may also consider athletes for nomination that can achieve or contribute to medal winning performances.

For all Disciplines, quota places are allocated to the AOC in accordance with the Qualification System as set out by the International Federations.  CA may not nominate more athletes than are permitted to be nominated by the AOC, but may nominate fewer athletes than are permitted.

The cyclists named to the Australian Team will be announced by the AOC in early-mid 2020. 

Cycling Australia Nomination Criteria  |  IOC Tokyo 2020 Official Documents
​
EVENTS

Five cycling disciplines will be contested - Track, Road, Mountain Bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle. 

BMX - Ariake Urban Sports Park

• Freestyle Park (Men/Women)
• Racing Race (Men/Women)

​
Mountain Bike - Izu MTB Course

• Cross-Country (Men/Women)

Road - Fuji International Speedway

• Road Race (Men/Women)
• Individual Time Trial (Men/Women)

​Track - Izu Velodrome

• Team Sprint (Men/Women)
• Sprint (Men/Women)
• Keirin (Men/Women)
• Team Pursuit (Men/Women)
• Omnium (Men/Women)
• Madison (Men/Women)

Official Tokyo 2020 Schedule

WATCH

Seven has launched The Olympics Channel on 7plus which will broadcast until the Tokyo games start feature highlights and stories about the athletes and the Olympics. 
​
Via 7 Plus online or the app. 

​#TokyoTogether

Madison future in good (sets of) hands


With the Madison set to feature at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after being reintroduced to the programme for men and added for women, the Australian chances in just under two years from now looks promising. 

Macey Stewart and Georgia Baker teamed to take the women’s crown, while Cameron Scott and Alex Porter dominated the men’s event. 


It continues a strong year in the event for Stewart, who came into the Australian Cycling Team program last month, with the Tasmanian claiming the 2018 Oceania and national titles with Kristina Clonan.  
 
"A big confidence boost to go back to back in my favourite event,” said Stewart, who on her way to Paris for this weekend’s opening Tissot UCI Track World Cup series where she will race the Madison with Clonan. 


“It is exciting it [the Madison] is an Olympic event now, as it has always been my favourite event. It is exciting to be able to focus on it over the next couple of years towards Tokyo."

Long haul celebration


There was little time for celebration following the Championships, with a 13-member contingent checking in for a long haul flight to Paris on Sunday night. 


The team will have a few days to acclimatise and shed the jet lag ahead of this weekend’s opening Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup Series in Saint Quentin en Yvelines.


The team set to contest the opening round is:
​

• Sprint - Patrick Constable; Matthew Glaetzer, Nathan Hart, Jacob Schmid, Kaarle McCulloch, Stephanie Morton
• Endurance - Kelland O'Brien, Leigh Howard, Macey Stewart, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker, Kristina Clonan, Maeve Plouffe

Following Paris, the sprint crew is set to race on a third continent in three weeks at the Series’ second round in Canada. The endurance contingent will head to the London Six-Day event.

The Tokyo 2020 games are now under 800 days away.

Cycling Australia’s (CA) commitment to Olympic and Paralympic Gold medal performances and Athlete Wellbeing continues.

In line with the Cycling Australia High Performance Strategy announced in October 2017, additional athletes will join the Australian Cycling Team in October 2018, as part of the new Podium Potential Track Academy. The Track Academy is a vital part of the elite athlete pathway and one of the cornerstones of the Australian Cycling Team’s long-term strategic plan.

These talented young athletes will train alongside the Podium Athletes, be based in Adelaide, and be provided with resources and support to develop them towards 2024. As well as these longer-term prospects, it is possible that a small number of these athletes will bridge the gap to the forthcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Simon Jones, Cycling Australia’s Performance Director: “Our goal is as clear now as it was when I started. Success at the Olympics in 2020 and 2024 is our goal, and we define ‘success’ as Olympic Gold. Our plan is all about continuing our focussed trajectory to Tokyo and beyond.

“An important element of the team’s balance and make up is to ensure a consistent flow of talent enters into the performance program, and we look forward to welcoming new riders into the Australian Cycling Team later in the year.”

As well as the new athletes set to join the Podium Potential Track Academy later this year, the Australian Cycling Team is also set to welcome three new elite riders:
​

• Kristina Clonan (QLD)
• Leigh Howard (VIC)
• Macey Stewart (TAS)

While the Australian Cycling Team is set to welcome many new riders, with a limited number of Team places available, four athletes will be transitioned out of the Australian Cycling Team system. Those athletes are:
​

• Jordan Kerby (QLD)
• Rebecca Wiasak (ACT)
• Rohan Wight (SA)
• Nicholas Yallouris (NSW)

Simon Jones: “It is always difficult to make these tough decisions and it is stressful for all parties in these circumstances. Of course, we recognise and understand it is especially tough for the athlete.

“I want to take this opportunity to recognise the contribution these four athletes have made to the Team and wish them all the best going forward. We will ensure in the short term that they have a support network around them and readily accessible support via our Senior Personal Excellence Advisor Mark Gregory, who is there to guide elite athletes through these complex transitions. 

The Australian Cycling Team’s commitment to improving athlete wellbeing is further reflected via a new AIS directorship centred around Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement. CA will seek to engage the new director Matti Clements to develop an even deeper understanding of this critically important piece of the elite athlete success puzzle.

Further, the Australian Cycling Team has appointed Dr Ruth Anderson to the newly created role of Performance Psychologist and Behaviours. Dr Anderson is set to join CA in July.  While this role will focus primarily on performance optimisation, Dr Anderson will also be an integral part of the support team that will oversee the implementation of additional athlete wellbeing and engagement tactics.

Finally, Cycling Australia have recruited Dr Paolo Menaspa as Head of Performance Solutions. Dr Menaspa will play a key role in supporting the coaching and performance support team to identify and deliver performance enhancing solutions.

Further depth will be added to the team shortly, with recruitment currently underway for a new Strength and Conditioning Coach and a new Para-cycling Technical Director; a replacement for Peter Day who will be retiring in September after decades of service to Cycling Australia.

Simon Jones: “Ultimately, we believe that our Performance Strategy will continue to deliver an optimum overall makeup of the Team as we strive for excellence at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympic, for 2024 and beyond”.
​
Cycling Australia will shortly publish a full list of Australian Cycling Team Track and Para-cycling Athlete Members.

2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships  | Rio De Janeiro  | 22-25 March 2018
​
The Australian Cycling Team’s journey towards the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begins this Thursday in Rio at the 2018 UCI Para-cyclingTrack World Championships.
 
From March 22-25, the Championships offers the first vital opportunity for nations to grab valuable qualification points towards Tokyo 2020, with the 16-rider Australian team to vie against 200 of the world’s best from 30 countries.
 
It will also be a return to the velodrome for many of our 2016 Paralympic heroes, in particular reigning world champions David Nicholas (QLD) and Amanda Reid (NSW).
 
“I think everyone has travelled quite well over to Rio from Australia, still getting over a bit of jetlag as expected, but everything is looking good so far for some good performances,” said Nicholas, who claimed 2016 Paralympic gold in in the individual pursuit and will be aiming for a strong performance in his world title defence.
 
“Being back here in Rio at the Velodrome where I won gold two years ago feels amazing, first hit out on track was great.
 
“Certainly will try to defend my title, but if I do a great performance that I know I can do, I will be happy and the result will be what it will be.”
 
Dual reigning world champion Reid is eager to get the competition underway after completing a week of training on the track.
 
“Felt great to be back here on these boards again after 2016, spending time getting used to the slightly different shape of the track again before ramping up the training as the week progressed,” added Reid, who announced herself in 2017 with rainbow jerseys in both the time trial and individual pursuit.
 
“I'm feeling really more and more excited about the competition as we get closer to it.
 
“I'm confident about my chances of retaining my world crown in the 500 time trial which is my main goal, and I'm also looking for a personal best in the individual pursuit.”
 
The Championships begin what will be a busy two weeks for 2016 world champions and Paralympic bronze medallists Jessica Gallagher (VIC) and Pilot Madison Janssen (VIC), with the pair also set to represent Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
 
“Personally, Maddie and I are really excited to race, we have a busy few weeks ahead with the back up straight into the Commonwealth Games, so managing our training loads and taper has been incredibly important,” said Gallagher.  The pair will contest the Tandem time trial and sprint at both the World Championships and the Games.
 
“We are riding fast and with good race conditions anticipated we have high expectations particularly in the sprint. It's safe to say the entire team are all ready to get out there and race!'”

Similarly in the men's Tandem, Brad Henderson (SA) and Thomas Clarke (SA-Pilot) will fine-tune their Games preparation at the Worlds.
 
“This is a really good chance for Tom and I to have some international race experience in a strong field before the Commonwealth Games,” said Henderson. “We are aiming to execute everything we’ve been doing in training, come out with some personal bests and see how we compare amongst the worlds best.”
 
The team also features reigning world champion Simone Kennedy (NSW), plus 2016 Paralympic Games silver medallists Alistair Donohoe (VIC) and Kyle Bridgwood (QLD).
 
Follow the World Championships

• Website
• Watch Live
• Results

 
Follow the Australian Cycling Team

• australiancyclingteam.com
• Facebook - AustralianCyclingTeam
• Instagram - @australiancyclingteam
• Twitter - @AusCyclingTeam

Australian Cycling Team 

• Gordon Allan (NSW-C2)
• Kyle Bridgwood (QLD-C4)
• Alistair Donohoe (VIC-C5)
• Jessica Gallagher (VIC) / Madison Janssen (VIC-Pilot)
• Brad Henderson (SA) / Thomas Clarke (SA-Pilot)
• Darren Hicks (SA-C2)
• Simone Kennedy (NSW-C3)
• Meg Lemon (SA-C4)
• Kieran Murphy (SA) / Lachlan Glasspool (SA-Pilot)
• David Nicholas (QLD-C3)
• Emily Petricola (VIC-C4)
• Amanda Reid (NSW-C2)
• Darcy Thompson (SA-C1)

Cycling Australia (CA) is proud to announce the Australian Cycling Team. The name ‘Australian Cycling Team’ will now be used to encompass the national squad athletes, coaches and performance support staff, previously branded the CA High Performance Unit, or HPU. 

The 55-strong group of Olympic and Paralympic cycling discipline athletes will receive program support for Track and Para, and Individual Athlete Performance Support (IAPS) for Road and BMX, and form the core group from which CA launches its Tokyo 2020 attack.

Meet the Athletes:  Track  |  Road  |  BMX  |  Para-cycling

Athletes named in the Australian Cycling Team have achieved, or have the potential to achieve, success at the highest level and are acknowledged and supported under the Australian Sports Commission’s athlete categorisation guidelines as Podium Potential or above. Specifically, the team consists of 22 Track athletes, 15 Para (Track & Road), 13 Road and five BMX athletes (4 Super-cross and 1 Freestyle), with an Olympic and Paralympic event focus.

CA’s Performance Director, Simon Jones, said that the new name (Australian Cycling Team) explains more simply what we are, and what we are about, and provides a clear destination for those further down the athlete pathway to aspire towards.

“The Australian Cycling Team is a group of world-class athletes who have achieved success at the highest level, or who are on their way, with huge potential. Being part of the team means that they will be supported with the best possible coaching and performance support they need to achieve their goals.

“Underpinning the team is our national high performance network of state institutes and state bodies, which will continue to play a key role in the athlete pathway by identifying and supporting a further 74 Emerging and Developing international athletes with the objective of preparing them for a successful progression into the Australian Cycling Team, based at the Adelaide Super-drome.”

Athletes in the Australian Cycling Team may receive a range of individualised performance support services, such as:

• Performance coaching
• Performance support, including medical, physical therapies and performance specialists (strength and power, nutrition, biomechanics, skill acquisition, engineering and technology, physiology, psychology / behaviours)
• Training facilities and equipment
• Travel and logistics
• Financial support from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) via dAIS performance-based support and the Australian Cycling Team athlete living support and / or Individual Athlete Performance Support (IAPS), and Personal Excellence (off-bike endeavours)

Athletes can also receive financial support from the AOC Medal Incentive Fund, which is performance-based funding following podium performances in Olympic disciplines at identified benchmark competitions

Jones said it was important to note that inclusion in the Australian Cycling Team does not provide automatic selection to World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Olympic or Paralympic teams.

“Those opportunities still have to be earned, according to the respective discipline selection criteria” Jones said.

“We want a supportive yet challenging environment that sees athletes reaching their potential and achieving their goals and dreams. We want a system that provides upward pressure for limited places in the Podium categories from the athlete pathway which is supported by our state institutes and state sporting body partners that make up the High Performance Network, and by BMXA and MTBA.

The new Australian Cycling Team provides a clear destination for the Emerging and Developing athletes in the high performance network to aspire to be part of the next generation of champions.

The announcement of the team has been supported by the release of a number of new documents and collateral, and a dedicated Australian Cycling Team website.

The Performance 1st summary sets out the team’s gold medal targets, and the performance and operational support that the athletes will have access to.

The Australian Cycling Team High Performance Plan provides a one-page summary of the key elements of the Australian Cycling Team Strategy 2020 – 24, delivered by Simon Jones in October 2017. A dedicated website features profiles of the selected athletes along with updated Australian Cycling Team Discipline Specific Selection Criteria for all the key events of the year, including timelines for selection period, appeals process and team announcements.

CA’s Australian Cycling Team Strategy 2020 – 24 prioritises resources into Olympic and Paralympic cycling events and athletes with the desire and capability to perform at a world-class level. Aside from any funding or investment obligations, the Olympics and Paralympics are the world’s biggest multi-sport events and give us the chance to inspire and capture the imagination of a huge audience, including the future stars of our sport.