Cycling Queensland ready for championships

Cycling Queensland is looking forward to hosting its most successful road cycling event, when it will host the 2007 Scody Australian and Oceania Road Cycling Championships in Murwillumbah in early May.

Over 250 elite cyclists from Australia, New Zealand and the Oceania Rim countries will converge on the Tweed Valley to contest the championships over three days. Pottsville will play host to the Australian Junior and Oceania Individual Time Trial Championships on Thursday, May 3, while the Australian Junior and Oceania Road Race Championships, the National Series second round and road race Selection events will be contested in Murwillumbah on Saturday and Sunday, (May 5 - 6).

Cycling Queensland's Events Manager, Haylie Lack said that the area and the courses are familiar as they have for many years now played host to the U19 National selection trials. However, this year's expansion of the event to include the Oceania Championships and Australian U19 Championships promises a larger and stronger field of riders, which warranted a significant transfer of the course start to Murwillumbah, in an attempt to further showcase the national and international riders that will take the stage.

Events Manager, Haylie Lack explained "We have had some exciting advancements in the past week which has aided our organization of the event. Scody have come onboard as naming rights sponsor, our course has been finalized, and local support has been fantastic."

The course, designed by Tweed local, Stan Brims, as mentioned starts in Murwillumbah and weaves throughout the surrounding villages including Mooball, Burringbar, Stokers Siding and Uki. "The terrain for this course is rather challenging for the cyclists, but it will be a great opportunity for residents of these small villages to witness these elite cyclists in their home towns," he said.

Cycling Queensland is urging the local community to get involved in this event. "It is something free for your whole family to enjoy."