NZ U19 Track Team head to Switzerland

The NZ U19 Track Cycling Team head to Switzerland tomorrow to do their final preparation before Junior World Champs in Moscow.

It's one of the most promising teams New Zealand has ever sent to Junior Worlds. Many of the team have put in some excellent performances on road and track in their efforts to gain selection and to prepare for the hard racing to come. Sam Webster was outstanding at Youth Olympic Festival riding 10.3 for 200m and backed up with results at Track Nationals. Liz Steel got her first exposure to International Competition at Youth Olympics and found the going tough but used this to step up to an unprecedented clean sweep of U19 titles at Track Nationals as well as Elite Team Sprint Gold and Elite Keirin Bronze. Micheal Vink lowered the New Zealand record for 3000m and has been preparing in France by giving the French roadies a hard time. Josh Atkins was in superb form at both Youth Olympics and Track Nationals. Patrick Bevin is new to track but is learning fast and after wins in Oceania Games Road Race, Australian U19 Champs and Tour of Taranaki is in great form.

The whole team is: Josh Atkins, Patrick Bevin, Wiremu Kaihau, Cameron Karwowski, Ruaraidh McLeod, Ethan Mitchell, Elizabeth Steel, Hamish Tomlinson, Michael Vink, and Sam Webster.