World Champion Hoskins Set to Compete in Rainbow Jersey

WAIS Athlete of the Year Melissa Hoskins will compete in her world championship rainbow colours for the first time at next month’s Track World Cup in New Zealand.

Hoskins – who was jointly named as the Institute’s top award winner for 2015 along with netballer Caitlin Bassett in October – will contest the women’s team pursuit in New Zealand, as the country hosts a UCI Track World Cup event for the first time, from December 4-6.

The Australian quartet of Hoskins, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Amy Cure and Annette Edmondson, will reprise their role for the first time since winning the world championship title in Paris, last February, in world record time. The squad will be joined by WAIS athlete Bella King, rounding out the five-member women’s track endurance squad.

The endurance girls are part of a 20-strong Australian World Cup squad, contesting the second leg of the UCI Track World Cup Tour, which is visiting New Zealand for the first time, with Cambridge set to play host.

The 2015/16 UCI Track World Cup series features the world’s best track cyclists competing across three rounds for points towards World Championships and Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualification.

Cali (Colombia) hosted the first round of the series at the end of October, followed by the up-coming second round in Cambridge (New Zealand) before the third and final round unfolds in Hong Kong from January 16-17.

The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be held in London, Great Britain in March.

In addition to the ten Olympic events – keirin, sprint, team pursuit, team sprint and omnium for both men and women – the Cambridge round also features a men’s and women’s scratch race and Madison for men. The additional races on the program are all C1 UCI events with UCI qualification points on offer.