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The Commonwealth Games is an opportunity to showcase some fantastic cycling disciplines to a broader audience. This April, 36 Australian riders will be competing in Queensland in MTB, road and track events. Here is a summary of the selection…

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The Australian team for the cycling events at the Commonwealth Games has been announced today. A packed schedule of road, track and MTB racing will take place in Queensland in April and, as we’ve known for some time, this is going to be the focus of Cycling Australia’s high performance unit in 2018.

HPU director, Simon Jones, outlined his intentions for the year in October 2017 when he reiterated his intentions: chase medals in the events that are given priority by the Australian Sports Commission.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo is the main priority for Jones but the Commonwealth Games provide a great opportunity to showcase cycling in Australia.

The Games in Queensland are on from 4-15 April 2018 and the road events – men’s and women’s time trial, plus men’s and women’s road races – are amongst the four events that offer free viewing for spectators. (Ticketing information for MTB and track events can be found on the official site for the Commonwealth Games.)

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The Australian team won gold in the 2014 team pursuit with Jack Bobridge, Luke Davison, Alex Edmondson and Glenn O’Shea (above). Only Edmondson will be racing in the 2018 Commonwealth Games – but on the road, not the track.

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Australian cycling team: 2018 Commonwealth Games

There is a total of 36 athletes on the Cycling Australia team for the Commonwealth Games in April. Below is a summary of who has been selected for the three disciplines that will be featured.

 

Road cycling

  • Tiffany Cromwell
  • Gracie Elvin
  • Katrin Garfoot
  • Chloe Hosking
  • Shannon Malseed
  • Sarah Roy
  • Mitch Docker
  • Alex Edmondson
  • Mathew Hayman
  • Cameron Meyer
  • Callum Scotson
  • Steele von Hoff

 

MTB

  • Daniel McConnell
  • Rebecca McConnell

 

Track Endurance

  • Ashlee Ankudinoff
  • Georgia Baker
  • Amy Cure
  • Annette Edmondson
  • Alexandra Manly
  • Rebecca Wiasak
  • Leigh Howard
  • Jordan Kerby
  • Cameron Meyer
  • Kelland O’Brien
  • Alex Porter
  • Samuel Welsford
  • Nicholas Yallouris

 

Track Sprint

  • Kaarle McCulloch
  • Stephanie Morton
  • Patrick Constable
  • Matthew Glaetzer
  • Nathan Hart
  • Jacob Schmid

 

Para Track (tandem)

  • Jessica Gallagher / Madison Janssen (pilot)
  • Bradley Henderson / Thomas Clarke (pilot)

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Australian sprinters enjoyed success at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. 

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A full track program

There are more medals on offer on the velodrome than the road and trails combined. The Commonwealth Games does, in fact, provide a great program for track cycling enthusiasts and there’s every reason for Australian fans to be excited about the prospects of ‘their’ athletes in April.

On the track there are eight medals for elite men and eight for elite women (and three for blind/visually impaired athletes – sprint and ‘kilo’ for men, and sprint for women).

The program includes:

  • Sprint (men and women)
  • 1,000m TT (men)
  • 500m TT (women)
  • 4,000m team pursuit (men and women)
  • 4,000m individual pursuit (men)
  • 3,000m individual pursuit (women)
  • Points races (40km for men; 25km for women)
  • Team sprint (men and women)
  • Keirin (men and women)

 

Racing will be contested in Brisbane on the (relatively) new ‘Anna Meares Velodrome’. The national championships were held at the same venue earlier this year and some fast times were posted, although no world records were broken.

Conditions will be cooler in April but the level of competition will be higher than at the nationals… so we may well see a few records set.

 

(Ticket prices for the track events start from $49 for adults, $25 for children.)

 

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