New Zealanders prepare for World Team Championships in Hamburg

Hamburg this weekend plays host to the latest round of the ITU World Triathlon Series and then hosts the ITU Elite Mixed Relay World Championships, with the athletes backing up on consecutive days to chase individual points and a team’s title for their nation.

Racing on the Saturday is over the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) while those involved in the Mixed Teams World Championship on theSunday race over a super sprint distance (300m swim, 6.6km bike, 1.6km run), with each athlete completing the distance before tagging a team mate until all four have completed the course.

New Zealand will be represented this weekend by Andrea Hewitt (Christchurch – 9th on world rankings), Kate McIlroy (Wellington – 12th), Rebecca Kingsford (Tirau) in the women’s race and Ryan Sissons (Auckland – 9th), Tony Dodds (Wanaka – 23rd) and Bryce McMaster (Auckland – 53rd) in the men’s, with Kingsford and McMaster standing by as reserves for the Teams race on Sunday.

Triathlon NZ National Coach Greg Fraine talks of the balance on such a weekend.

“The athletes prepare for both events and in our case we have come together well. We have a very even team, a group of athletes who know each other well and have a desire to perform well for each other and for New Zealand. The focus initially is Saturday and the individual race, we will then go into recovery mode and prepare for Sunday.

“They understand this format well now and as far back as Kinloch this year we were rehearsing for this weekend’s event. We are a team who can race in an attacking mindset or race more defensively depending on the situation. Our order though is pretty set, we have a good leader in Andrea who will lead out, Kate will be third and we will decide on Ryan and Tony in regards racing second and fourth.”

Fraine says while the focus this season remains the season ending Grand Final in London when athletes will be looking to qualify for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, there are goals at each event along the way.

“The focus is London, but each race during the season is a good test of where we are at and a reflection of how training is going. Of course we are always hoping for top ten results but we are also focused on the process of going through each discipline, concentring on performance with results following on from that, all of which leads us towards London.”

Tony Dodds is feeling in much better condition than before the latest ITU World Triathlon Series race at Kitzbuehel where a calf strain hindered his preparation.

“I am definitely feeling better than Kitzbuehel, I was a little rough as a result of a calf strain and had only started running five days out from that race. But I had my first track and hard session last week, so all been good leading into this race, I’m looking forward to it.”

As for the backing up on consecutive days, 23rd ranked Dodds is not concerned.

“We’ve done it before, we just take it one step at a time, recovery after the race is vital to prepare for Sunday, but we are all in the same boat, from our perspective it will be very organised with nothing left to chance. We have a strong team with a good spirit amongst us, some have one person who is not so strong as the others but we have four strong athletes and will race hard for each other.”

Kate McIlroy raced well on the Hamburg course last year in the lead up to the London Olympics and is ready for the weekend.

“I’ve been looking forward to this for a few months; we had a pre-run in Kinloch earlier this year so it has been a long time coming. Being involved with the team you do feel some pressure not to let anyone down but we can all handle that and if anything it makes us perform better. We have lived together and trained together for the last few months and know each other pretty well.”

McIlroy spoke of her season now building towards the London Grand Final and the main aim of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games next year.

“The main goal this season is London, to race well in the Grand Final and to qualify for Glasgow. It has been a long season but we enjoyed a good training block at altitude and have laid a good foundation for the next few months of racing leading into London, with Hamburg this weekend and then Stockholm along the way.”

ITU World Triathlon Series
Hamburg Sprint distance

Elite Women
1.50am Sunday 21st July (Live on SKY SPORT)
Andrea Hewitt
Kate McIlroy
Rebecca Kingsford

Elite Men
4am Sunday 21st July (live on SKY SPORT)
Ryan Sissons
Tony Dodds
Bryce McMaster

ITU Mixed Relay World Championships
1am Monday 22nd July (Live on SKY SPORT)
Andrea Hewitt
Tony Dodds
Kate McIlroy
Ryan Sissons
(Rebecca and Bryce will act as reserves)

CLICK HERE for the ITU race preview and start lists

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Kiwi ingenuity behind UCI BMX World Championships

Kiwi innovation is a key part in this month’s UCI BMX World Championships in Auckland.

The 32nd BMX World Championships will be staged in the world-class Vector Arena on Auckland’s waterfront from 24-28 July.

The move to indoor arenas for the sport has become more common, offering an all-weather spectacular for competitors and fans alike.

However it can create challenges for the track construction. For the past three years there have been two separate starting ramps built for the BMX World Championships – an 8m ramp for elites and 5m ramp for Challenge (age group) racing.

The confines of Vector Arena meant there was insufficient room to build two separate ramps, meaning that the event’s operations manager, Tony Takarua from Elite Racing Developments New Zealand had to come up with an innovative solution.

The indoor track at the Vector Arena will include three tracks in one, with all classes sharing the same starting ramp and first straight. It is the first time since the introduction of two different starting heights for Challenge and Elite riders, that the two classes will share the same ramp.

After the two days of Challenge (age group) racing on Wednesday July 24 and Thursday July 25, the start ramp will be modified from five metres high to eight metres for the Elite racing at the weekend. At the same time the first straight will undergo slight modifications in order to host the weekend competitions.

“We came up with the concept of building a single split-level ramp structure with a longer platform for the 5m ramp,” said Takarua. “After Challenge races, with the use of hydraulics, the 5m ramp is repositioned to 8m.

“We are really pleased with the concept. We have built and tested it out and I think this could become a blueprint for cities around the world that want to run the championships in indoor arenas.”

The transformation will take place overnight after Challenge racing. The Junior and Elite Women will use the Challenge section of the second straight, while the Junior and Elite Men will ride on the adjacent Pro section.

Takarua is well known for his track building skills, having led the construction of New Zealand’s sole Supercross track at Pukekohe, the first permanent track to run Elite and Challenge ramps and tracks side by side and the first to use adjustable jumps.

His team will build the ramp and provide the construction team for the track, to be managed by the London Olympic track builders, Clark and Kent Contractors.

The English company has been involved in many projects with multiple national tracks in England, USA, remedial work at the World Cycling Centre at Aigle in Switzerland and the track for the London Olympics which won them worldwide acclaim.

Construction of the track in Vector Arena will take six days involving approximately 10,000 pallets and 60 truck and trailer loads of specially prepared dirt.

Organisers expect more than 2000 riders from 30 countries for the championships, although entries to not close until 12 July.

The Championships begin with the Challenge class (age group) on Wednesday 24 July and Thursday 25 July, with elite practice on Friday ahead of the time trial world title decided on Saturday 27 July and finals on Sunday 28 July.

The event has received the backing of Telecom, Major Events, Sport New Zealand, ATEED, Avanti Bikes, Avanti Finance, Pub Charity, Lion Foundation, Anchor, The Radio Network, Pullman Hotels, Tissot Timing and Santini.

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Reade withdraws from UCI BMX World Championships

British Cycling has today confirmed that Shanaze Reade has withdrawn from the forthcoming UCI BMX World Championships, which are scheduled to take place in Auckland from 24 – 28th July.

Shanaze sustained a knee injury after falling during a training camp in Papendal in early July. GB Cycling Team’s physiotherapist Phil Burt explains: “Shanaze has worked hard to recover from her recent knee injury but unfortunately time has run out for her to be in competitive form at the World Championships.”

Speaking of the decision, Shanaze said: "Having won every major race this year I was confident and excited to race in New Zealand, this was one of my biggest goals for 2013. To miss out on the World Championships is really disappointing. However, my team and I believe this is definitely the correct decision. It will be a short period of recovery and the plan is to come back stronger for the rest of the year."

For more information, visit www.britishcycling.org.uk

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