Cycling stars kick off at top international Paracyling events this week

Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) is looking forward to another exciting week of Parasport this week as the NZ Para-cycling team compete in the 2013 UCI Paracyling Road World Cup and Road World Championships in Canada from 23 – 25 August and 29 August – 1 September 2013 respectively.

The 9 strong team is a mix of highly experienced cyclists joined by several young and developing athletes.

The team is headlined by Paralympic stars Fiona Southorn and tandem partners Phillipa Gray and Laura Fairweather (sighted pilot).  Phillipa and Laura took the trifecta at the London 2012 Paralympic Games with outstanding performances that included a world record.  Fiona won bronze in the 3km Pursuit and was New Zealand’s first medallist in London.

They are joined by new comers to the NZ team hand cyclists Tiffiney Perry, Jonathan Nelson, Brendon Stratton and Tim Williams.  The newest members of the team are tandem Emma Foy and Gabrielle Vermunt (sighted pilot).

The team will be lead by Head Performance Coach - Brendon Cameron.  He says, “We are very excited about this team as we believe we have a great mix of experience and enthusiasm,” he continues, “this event will provide a great testing ground to see where our performances sit on the international stage.”