AusCycling has named the 28 riders who will make up their elite, under-23 and junior squads at the upcoming UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, with Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) as leaders in the elite road races.
Notable absentees from the team include Sarah Gigante (AG Insurance-Soudal), who recently broke her femur in a training accident, and Jayco-AlUla’s Ben O’Connor, who is currently racing Vuelta a España.
Without a major favourite for the race, AusCycling’s Head Coach of Endurance Conor Taylor said that the Australian riders will aim to be aggressive in the road races, which have been described as being among the most difficult ever, with 5,475 metres of climbing in the men’s race and 3,350 in the women’s.
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Leading the women’s squad, Taylor said that Bradbury is “capable of big results". The 23-year-old will be supported by the experience of Amanda Spratt (Lidl-Trek), alongside Brodie Chapman (UAE Team ADQ), Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek), Alex Manly and Ruby Roseman-Gannon (both Liv-AlUla-Jayco).
“We have a talented group of riders with a mix of youth and experience at this level,” Taylor said of the women’s squad. “We might not be the favourites on paper, but that frees us to race aggressively and look for opportunities from early on.”
Hindley spearheads a solid-looking men’s team, which also includes Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), Chris Hamilton (Picnic-PostNL), Callum Scotson (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Chris Harper, Michael Matthews and Luke Plapp (all Jayco-AlUla).
“Jai is hungry for the opportunity to represent the Australian colours after his major setback this year when he crashed at the Giro. He was a key player in last year’s edition and when he saw the course this year, he was motivated to be in Rwanda. We believe we have a strong team ready to support him,” Taylor said.
Vine and Plapp will also represent Australia in the men’s individual time trial, while Chapman will hope to improve on her 11th place at the 2024 Worlds in Zürich.
Last year, Australia claimed the rainbow jersey in the mixed relay for the first time, becoming the first non-European nation to win the event in five outings. The team will once again invest heavily in the mixed relay which will take place on the 24th of September, after the conclusion of the individual TT competitions.
Chapman, Hanson, Spratt, Matthews, Vine and Plapp will take part in the 42.1km races against the clock, in which the men’s team of three complete the course first before the women’s squad.
“The mixed relay is important to us as a national team,” Taylor said. “Other nations may not prioritise it, but Australia is a nation with a proud history of success in time-trialling and the fact it’s a team event resonates strongly with our squad values.
“It means a lot to these riders. When we won the rainbows last year in Zürich, it lifted the team going into the road races.”
Despite nations such as Denmark, Netherlands and Ireland withdrawing their teams from the younger categories due to budgetary constraints and logistical challenges, Australia will send a full team of under-23s and juniors to Rwanda, with former junior time trial champion Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (Lidl-Trek) and Israel-Premier Tech stagiaire Zac Marriage headlining.
