Fifteen New Zealand cyclists who won 18 world championships between them this year were honoured in Wellington today.
The wins came across a range of all disciplines including elite, junior, para-cycling and masters track, mountain bike and BMX. They were led at the high performance level by Beijing Olympians Alison Shanks and Sarah Walker.
Shanks (Dunedin) followed in the footsteps of Sarah Ulmer in winning gold in the women's elite individual pursuit at the world track championships in Poland in March. She also led the new women's team pursuit to a silver medal at the same championships.
Walker (Kawerau) met with double gold success at the BMX world championship in Adelaide in July when she won the Olympic class and then took out the Cruiser Class the following day. She finished the year ranked No 1 in the world.
New Zealand's junior cyclists also provided plenty of encouragement for the future, led by three gold medals at the world junior track championships and a superb win for Brook MacDonald in the world junior mountain bike downhill.
The BikeNZ World Champions in 2009 were:
Alison Shanks (Dunedin): elite women's track individual pursuit
Sarah Walker (Kawerau): elite Olympic class BMX
Walker: elite cruiser class BMX
Sam Webster (Auckland), Ethan Mitchell (Auckland), Cameron Karwowski (Blenheim): junior track team sprint
Webster: junior track sprint
Webster: junior track keirin
Brook MacDonald (Napier): under-19 mountain bike downhill
Rico Bearman (North Harbour): BMX Olympic class 5-6 years
Nicholas Fox (Gisborne): BMX cruiser class 16 years
Tahlia Hansen (Christchurch): BMX Olympic class 12 years
Paula Tesoriero (Wellington): para-cycling road race
Tesoriero: para-cycling track 500m Time Trial
Justin Grace (Auckland): masters track 1000m time trial 35-39 years
Reon Park (Timaru): masters track individual pursuit 35-39 years
Megan Blatchford (Palmerston North): masters track sprint 45-49 years
Blatchford: masters track scratch race 45-49 years
Warwick Dalton (Auckland): masters track scratch race 70-74 years
Owen Duff (Dunedin): masters track points race 75 plus years.
NZPA