• Ten young riders from across New Zealand selected for Junior Track World Championships in August
  • Team includes standout national champions and returning World Champs riders from 2024
  • Championships take place at world-class Apeldoorn velodrome in the Netherlands this August

Cycling New Zealand has named a 10-strong team for the 2025 UCI Junior Track World Championships, set to take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, from 20 to 24 August.

The squad features six male and four female riders, with a mix of new talent and returning experience. Sprinters Alex Schuler (18, Cambridge) and Riley Faulkner (17, Southland) are back after representing New Zealand at last year’s championships.

Faulkner is also the current national junior sprint champion and helped win silver in the team sprint in 2024. She joins three Canterbury-based riders in the female team: Sophie Maxwell (17), Shaylah Sayers (16) and Jesse Thomson (16). Sayers claimed national titles in the omnium, points, and scratch races, and finished second in the scratch at the Oceania Championships. Maxwell won the individual pursuit at the national level and was runner-up in the omnium, points, and elimination races. She also earned second in the elimination race at Oceania level. Thomson secured medals in both the individual pursuit and scratch race at nationals.

Schuler, who also holds the national titles in sprint and keirin, is joined by Ben Murphy (17, Cambridge) and Flynn Underwood (18, Hamilton) in the men’s sprint group. The trio recently won the team sprint at the Oceania Championships.

The men’s endurance line-up features Hunter Dalton (18, Auckland), who won the national elimination race, and David Kwon (16, Auckland), who placed second in the omnium, points, and elimination at nationals. Rounding out the squad is Joshua Grieve (17, Otago), the national omnium champion.

The event will be staged at the renowned Omnisport velodrome in Apeldoorn, a venue with a rich cycling history. Apeldoorn has hosted the UCI Track World Championships in 2011 and 2018, the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in 2015 and 2019, and two rounds of the Track Champions League.

The Junior Track World Championships is the only UCI cycling event dedicated solely to Junior riders, with 22 world titles on offer. These include Olympic events like keirin, madison, omnium, sprint, team pursuit and team sprint, along with elimination, points, scratch, individual pursuit, and time trial.

New Zealand Team:
Female: Riley Faulkner (Southland), 17; Sophie Maxwell (Canterbury), 17; Shaylah Sayers (Canterbury), 16; Jesse Thomson (Canterbury), 16.
Male: Hunter Dalton (Auckland), 18; Joshua Grieve (Otago), 17; David Kwon (Auckland), 16; Ben Murphy (Cambridge), 17; Alex Schuler (Cambridge), 18; Flynn Underwood (Hamilton), 18.
Non-travelling Reserve: Miles Preena (Auckland), 17.

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