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Australian Junior Track Championships - NE
Adelaide, 13-16 April 2003
Adelaide plays host to the future of Australian cycling
By Kathie Stove
The future of Australia's track cycling is on show in Adelaide where they are contesting the Australian Junior Track Championships. These young athletes, who fit into in the UCI 'Youth' category of 16 years or less, are competing in four sections, under 15 and under 17, male and female.
The Junior Championships, like the Australian Masters, were separated from the National Track Championships three years ago to reduce the size of the ever-expanding program in the main event, which this year will be held at the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney, from 30 April to 4 May.
According to UCI rules, the Youth category is governed by national bodies and Cycling Australia has selected a program that covers a variety of sprint and endurance events that tests these developing riders but takes into account their limited experience. At this stage of their progress in the sport many competitors attempt both sprint and endurance events.
When they arrived in Adelaide late last week, some riders from the Northern Territory and Queensland had never ridden on an indoor wooden velodrome. Cycling Australia President Mike Victor said that even for the riders who are used to a wooden track, their general inexperience and the big gears they use can cause bounce and lead to too many falls in races with large fields. So the spectators won't be seeing madisons or points races but they will see a scratch race in all sections.
All sections also compete in 500m time trials, individual pursuits and sprints. Only the under 17 men compete for a national title in the teams pursuit, which closes the program on Wednesday morning.
