Cycling Australia has named a 13-rider team to contest the final two rounds of the 2016-17 UCI Track World Cup series in Cali, Colombia February 17-19 and Los Angeles from February 24-26 2017.
The team sees a mix of youth an experience with riders returning to international competition for the first time since August's Rio Olympic Games and a number of rising stars making their World Cup debuts.
VIS athlete Kelland O'Brien will make his World Cup debut having made a successful start to his elite career at the Oceania Championships in December, while former VIS athlete and three-time track World Champion Leigh Howard returns to the World Cup circuit for the first time since the 2010/11 season.
In other cycling news, Darebin International Velodrome has hosted the inaugural “Track Attack” event. Track Attack is the newest revolution in track cycling. It’s structured to bring a new team participation format to track that is exciting for both riders and spectators.
8 teams of 6 riders battled it out through a series of six events.
The VIS Vanquishers put their mark on the event immediately winning the Team Mega Sprint putting in a dominant 1:04.27.
Despite that strong start Callan Douglas (Foundation Technologies) took his team to the top with a win in the Tempo race thanks to a blistering final sprint.
The Team Italian Pursuit proved the importance of working together with many teams having dramatically different tactics. Those able to keep their main 4 riders bunched throughout the event topped the podium with the VIS Warriors taking the overall win over the Vanquishers and Crusaders.
As the program neared an end the Vanquishers were put into an unassailable lead with wins from Jemma Eastwood in the Tempo Race and 4 x 4.
The final team classification saw the VIS Vanquishers taking the win over the VIS Warriors and Flyers.
