CYCLING
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THE Orange Cycle and Triathlon Club on Tuesday held its first official track race meet at the revamped Orange velodrome in 20 years, and president Jeff Stewart is hoping it is the first of many.
Aiming to put track racing back on the map in Orange, Stewart said the event - the first Cycling Australia sanctioned track race held at the facility in two decades and set to be called the Summer Track Series - was aimed at participation and showcasing the cycling talent Orange boasts.
And with national medallists at a masters level and junior state champions blitzing the new-look velodrome, Stewart was confident of boosting participation at a seniors level.
Typically juniors compete from under 9s through to under 15s, and once at the top age of junior racing then progress into the seniors ranks.
Masters cycling begins at the over 35s age group.
“I guess it’s about building up the middle part of the club and get more people into racing,” Stewart said, the club boasting over 100 members.
“Over the years we’ve had a lot of cyclists head down to Bathurst because their racing has always been quite strong.
“We’d love to be able to get those guys back interested in Orange racing as well.”
He said enticing the triathlon slice of the club into track racing was also on the cards.
“A lot of those guys aren’t probably into the elite level racing side of cycling, and a lot of members probably don’t have cycling as their number one sport with triathlon and swimming a big part of the club too,” Stewart, also the chair of council’s Bicycling Community Committee said.
“This is just to try and get track racing up and going again and get a few of those members involved.”
On top of weekly cycle races at the velodrome, the club will hold criterium races at the Orange Go Kart track as well as its usual road race meets around Forest Reefs this summer.
In other cycling news, Max and Travis Stewart have been selected in the Western Region Academy of Sport (WRAS) for 2015 along with other top juniors from around the region.
The major racing event for the juniors over the Summer is the National Junior Track Series, with events scheduled in Melbourne, Launceston and Adelaide.