Cycling New Zealand riders have this year enjoyed arguably their most successful return ever across all genre of pedal power.
Kiwi riders have proudly podiumed at UCI World Championships, World Series and World Tour races on Mountain Bike (Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro), Road, BMX, Track and Esport. Additionally in 2025, there are outstanding performances from Para cycling riders on road and track, now fully integrated under the Cycling New Zealand umbrella for the first time.
The collective results in 2025 have been compelling. They are led women comprising the season-long MTB XCO World Series title to Taupo’s Samara Maxwell; a first-ever Elite Road World Championship podium for Nelson professional Niamh Fisher-Black, and rainbow jerseys for Warkworth’s George Swift at the UCI MTB E-Enduro World Championships, and a second straight UCI Esport World Championship for Hamilton’s Kate McCarthy.
Joining that highly capable quartet was the multi-talented Ally Wollaston, the first kiwi to claim GC honours in a UCI Women’s Road World Tour event and a one-day race win. This highlighted the performances of more than 20 New Zealand riders competing for UCI World and Pro Teams in 2025.
Wollaston and Fisher-Black now sit second and third respectively on the all-time performance rankings for kiwi female riders behind former world time trial champion, Linda Villumsen.
Among UCI World Tour riders, the experienced Dion Smith won a UCI 1.1 victory in the Volta NXT Classic and Corbin Strong claimed back-to-back GC honours in the UCI 1.1 stage races in the Tour of Wallonie and Artic Tour of Norway.
Cycling in New Zealand cannot forget 2024 New Zealand Sportsman of the Year, Aaron Gate who enjoyed his foray on to the UCI Tour with 2Pro GC wins in the Boucles de la Mayenne among other stage wins.
The biggest shift for kiwi riders in 2025 came in MTB – across cross-country, downhill and enduro where kiwi riders produced results at the highest levels, made the more remarkable considering the tiny base compared with European powerhouses competing in their own backyard.
Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) led the way, winning the elite UCI World Series season-long title across 10 World Cups on both sides of the Atlantic from March until October. Along the way she placed second overall in the short-track season honours and was runner-up to Jenny Rissveds in the XCO World Championship.
While injury negatively impacted the season for Alpecin Deceuninck professional Sam Gaze, he finished with an impressive run through from the back of the field to finish 12th in the world championship.
The huge push came from the incredibly talented youth brigade in downhill, highlighted by world championship podiums for juniors Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga) and Tyler Waite (Clive), with the pair both finishing third overall on the season standings.
Kaikoura’s Oli Clark was fourth over the season in junior downhill, and sixth at the worlds, joined by Palmerston North’s Jonty Williamson, fifth in both competitions.
Special mention also for elite rookie Sacha Earnest (Auckland), a two-time junior world medallist, who was eighth overall and leading kiwi on the season stats, just ahead of Queenstown’s Jess Blewitt.
Rotorua’s Lachlan Stevens-McNab, at 20 in his first full year in elite downhill, enjoyed two podiums and was top-15 over the season and at the world championships.
Kiwi riders enjoyed success in world enduro competition, led by Swift who was seventh in the season race but moved to the e-bike division to earn an outstanding world championship victory in Switzerland.
The outstanding Charlie Murray mixed managing the Specialized Enduro Team along with placing third in elite racing over the season and seventh at the world championships.
Alexandra’s Cooper Millwood was prominent in junior enduro, finishing runner-up in the overall season contest.
BMX Racing faced a challenging season built around a double World Cup round in France early in the year and a further double round in Chile late in the year.
The performances were led by outstanding 17-year-old Cambridge rider Lily Greenough, who overcame treacherously wet conditions to claim the world title in Copenhagen.
The track programme, in a typically more low-key post-Olympic year, was focussed more on developing new riders and new events. That did not stop the New Zealand squad winning five medals, a tally that has only been bettered once in their world championship history.
This success was on top of the positive introduction of emerging talent while at the other end of the spectrum, proven performers, Campbell Stewart and Bryony Botha, respectively earned their seventh and sixth world championship track medals. It elevates Stewart to equal third among the all-time NZ male medallists and Botha equal top with Alison Shanks in women.
The Cycling New Zealand high performance operation in Cambridge fully integrated the Para-cycling High Performance group led by head coach, Brendon Cameron.
The small group turned their attentions to new events on the track with remarkable success. The quartet comprising Nicole Murray, Devon Briggs, Siobhan Terry and the tandem pairing of Emma Foy and pilot Jesse Hodges combined for an outstanding 13 medals.
They were led with a gold medal to Briggs on the final day of competition.
Mid-year the highly versatile Murray joined with USA-based Rory Mead at the Para-cycling Road World Championships in Belgium with Mead picking up a bronze in the road race after fourth in the time trial, while Murray, on limited preparation scored two fifth placings.
The stunning year was completed internationally in the rising phenom of Esport racing, which turned the home trainer into means for a global software-enabled competition – given a meteoric spurt during covid times.
Hamilton policewoman Kate McCarthy showed that her victory in 2024 was no one-shot wonder. She dominated the 22 finalists at Abu Dhabi, with a powerful performance to claim a second rainbow jersey.
It proved colour completion of a sublime 12 months for Cycling New Zealand.
