Alessia McCaig

A rapidly rising star of Australian women's track sprinting, the future is definitely bright for Alessia McCaig.

Born in Bendigo, McCaig began cycling at the age of nine with the Bendigo and District Cycling Club on a hand-me-down bike from her older brother.

Cycling is firmly in the Alessia's blood, with her grandfather Alan instrumental in establishing the Bendigo International Madison in 1970 and her father Cameron a former board member of Cycling Victoria.

McCaig was a dominant under-17 and under-19 rider, often winning multiple national championships across several events, but that all came about after being motivated by her 2017 AusCycling Junior Track National Championships campaign that ended with a series of fourth-place finishes.

In her final year as a junior in 2021, McCaig further established her billing as a star of the future by setting two new under-19 national records at Track Nationals in the flying 200m (11.186 seconds) and 500m time trial (34.354 seconds). McCaig also holds the under-17 flying 200m national record (11.683 seconds).

McCaig won her first elite national title as a junior in 2021 as a member of the triumphant Victorian team sprint.

She was elevated to AusCycling Podium Potential categorisation later that year and relocated to Adelaide for a year before moving back home to Victoria a year later.

Her elite Australian Cycling Team debut came at the 2022 Oceania Track Championships in Brisbane, followed closely by selection to the Glasgow UCI Track Nations Cup.

More good selection news was delivered when she learnt she would be the youngest member of the Australian Cycling Team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

McCaig competed in the team sprint, sprint, keirin and 500m time trial at Lee Valley VeloPark during Birmingham 2022 and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the team sprint after finishing fourth alongside Kristina Clonan and Breanna Hargrave.

2023 was another year of growth that started with a bang courtesy of maiden elite national titles in the keirin and 500m time trial.

McCaig returned to the 2024 Track Nationals and issued a statement performance, defending her keirin and 500m time trial title and adding the coveted sprint crown.

Another impressive showing was put down at the Adelaide round of the 2024 UCI Track Nations Cup courtesy of a 10th in the keirin.

Her long-awaited UCI Track World Championships debut arrived in Ballerup, Denmark later that year and exceeded expectations after winning bronze in the team sprint alongside Clonan and fellow Track Worlds debutant Molly McGill.

McCaig showed her racing acumen once more in the keirin to battle through the early rounds and finish 11th.