Cycling New Zealand high performance director Martin Barras has declared the Oceania Track Championships a “success” as fans flocked to the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome in Invercargill last weekend.
It was the first time the event had been held at the Southland venue since 2015, with 180 riders competing in both elite and junior categories. Mr Barras said on the Cycling New Zealand website that the event proved to be a great form guide for the upcoming World Cup season.
“For us it’s been a success, there’s no doubt about that. There’s two main things I’m looking at: how we handle ourselves in the pits – how the team operates off the track, and how the team operates on the track, and it’s been satisfying on both accounts.”
He said one of the highlights of the event was seeing an Oceanic record broken on the very first night, with Southland rider Eddie Dawkins and teammates Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell winning the men’s sprint in a time of 42.508sec.
Other highlights for him included Ellesse Andrews winning the women’s Keirin and the performance of the men’s development team pursuit.
The meeting was a key component of the BikeFest events taking place around Southland until the end of November.
This article was originally written for The Advocate. You can read the published version here