New intake for Cycling New Zealand Upper South Performance Hub Programme

Road, Track & Cyclocross

2 June 2021

New intake for Cycling New Zealand Upper South Performance Hub Programme

Cycling New Zealand have announced a new intake of riders for the Upper South Performance Hub which is part of the National Performance Hub programme for 2021. This is the fourth year of the programme being delivered in the Upper South region which spans geographically from the Waitaki River to the top the South Island.

Cycling New Zealand established the athlete development programme with the overarching aim of systematically increasing the quality and quantity of athletes across all cycling codes feeding into the Cycling New Zealand High Performance Elite Programme.

The Cycling New Zealand National Performance Hub programme delivers an opportunity for emerging young talent to perform with consistent training and professional resources. As well as providing training facilities and programmes for athletes, the Hubs assist with the development of key regional coaches and provide a pathway for coaches as part of high-performance succession planning.

There are four regional road and track cycling Hubs and one national performance Hubs for BMX based in Cambridge respectively.

In this year’s intake there are 17 athletes from road and track disciplines selected for the programme. Additionally, the Hub will also support 4 MTB and 2 BMX athletes.

Head coach Steve Rickerby is the driving force behind the local programme and has seen an increased interest in the Hub over the last three years and attributes it to the strong bond between the young cyclists, local coaches and the community’s support.

“The Hub programme is all about nurturing and developing local talent. Last year our athletes consistently podiumed at the Vantage Elite & U19 National Championships across road, track and mountain bike, plus other events throughout the country.

“We have the support of the local Canterbury community with local companies and organisations Apollo Projects, JJ Steel, the Gardner Family, John Van Opzeeland, and Steve Moffat. Having these sponsor in our corner, means we can build momentum and create great coaching opportunities to fully develop more young riders to flow into the elite space.”

The team are building on the momentum created from previous years and the results from the recent Vantage Elite and Age Group National Championships across road and track and the Torpedo 7 MTB National Championships speak for themselves with the Upper South Hub riders winning 14 titles and 22 podium placings. This success also resulted in two Upper South Hub riders being awarded the best male and female Junior Road Cyclists for 2020.

The 2021 team is:

Jenna Borthwick

Amye Kellow

Amelia Sykes

Henrietta Christie

Jack Drage

Ryan MacLeod

Jonty Harris

Meghan Baker

Annabel Bligh

Jonathan Fish

Nick Rush