Paris Paralympians Nicole Murray and Rory Mead set off on the long road to Los Angeles 2028 when they compete in the opening UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium this week.

The pair will compete in both the individual time trial and the road race, having ventured to Europe for the one-off campaign.

Mead, a former motocross national champion, suffered a significant spinal cord injury after crashing into a tree a decade ago when racing in USA. Based in Athens, Georgia, Mead, originally from Porirua, found his way to Para-cycling and handcycling. He placed fifth at the Tokyo Paralympics in both the H2 time trial and road race before going on to earn two world cup medals in 2023. He placed fourth in the time trial and fifth in the road race at the Super Worlds that year in Glasgow before being pipped by one spot for a medal in the Paralympics road race in Paris.

He is first kiwi in action this week, competing in the 13km MH2 time trial along the coast in Ostend overnight Friday (NZT).

Murray, from Waikato, is a star-performer on the track with four world titles over three years, and a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics in the pursuit, along with fourth place in the road time trial.

She lost her hand in an accident as a child but found cycling 10 years ago after initially playing football.

Murray begins her campaign with the time trial in the WC5 category, racing over three laps (19.5km) of the same course in Ostend.

Action moves to the West Flanders capital of Bruges for the road race at the weekend, with Meads racing over four laps (46.6km) on Saturday evening NZT while Murray competes over five laps (58.3km) on Sunday evening.