Preview: Australians begin UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup season on home soil

A huge contingent of Australians will race in the opening round of the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup on home soil in Adelaide from January 13-17.

Of the 43 Aussies racing, 13 will wear the ARA Australian Cycling Team colours, while the remainder will compete as independently entered riders.

It is just the second time a para-cycling road world cup event has taken place in Australia. The first was in 2011, and was also the first world cup for Paralympian Carol Cooke.

Thirteen years on and Cooke will once again be lining up to represent Australia on the world stage.

The chance to race in front of a home crowd isn’t lost on Paralympian Emily Petricola.

“It is so special to be able to race in Australia as the first international race of the season in the Paralympic year. In my time in the sport, we haven’t had a world cup at home, so to be able to race a strong international field in front of friends and family who often don’t get to see you race at the highest level makes it even more special and hopefully memorable for everyone,” Petricola said.

Racing kicks off on Saturday at 5.35pm with the handcycle team relay in the Adelaide CBD being held in conjunction with Down Under Classic criterium,

Attention will turn to The Bend Motorsport Park from Monday to Wednesday, which will host both the time trial and road race events.

Both will be raced on the 7.7-kilometre GT circuit, the longest motorsports circuit in the southern hemisphere.

Petricola said the races would be a good gauge of how her form was early in the season and what work needed to be done ahead of the Paralympics in August.

“I think every time you line up to race you are looking to get something out of it. It isn’t always lining up knowing you are looking for a result specifically- and this early in the Paralympic year I note I’m certainly not in peak condition just yet, but it provides a great opportunity to go through the race process under big pressure and see what your current benchmark is and how you can improve ahead of the games,” she said.

“I think it should be a fast course. The wind will make it really tough and hard for all of us, but I think speeds should be pretty quick with the quality of the racing surface,” Petricola said.

Start lists and results

You can find start lists and live results at the official results page.

ARA Australian Cycling Team

Women

• Carol Cooke (T2)
• Lauren Parker (H3)
• Alana Forster (C5)
• Meg Lemon (C4)
• Emily Petricola (C4)
• Paige Greco (C3)
• Kaitlyn Schurmann (C1)

Men

• Alex Welsh (H3)
• Grant Allen (H4)
• Alistair Donohoe (C5)
• Darren Hicks (C2)
• Stuart Jones (T2)
• David Nicholas (C3)

Independent riders

Men's Tandem (MB)

• Beau Wootton (pilot Max Coleman)
• Keiran Murphy (pilot Michael Freiberg)
• Kevin O'Meley (pilot Richard Vollebregt)
• Steven Kemp (pilot Jameson Cosier)

Men's C3

• Mitchell Bails
• Kyle Willis

Men's C4

• Kyle Bridgwood
• Korey Boddington
• William Zammit

Men's C5

• Daniel van der Laan

Men's H1

• Charles Brice

Men's H2

• Rhys Tappenden

Men's H3

• Michael Taylor
• Aodhan Richards
• Lachlan O'Brien

Men's H4

• Richard Williams

Men's H5

• Samuel Germein

Men's T2

• Declan Hart

Women's Tandem (WB)

• Madelene McNeil (pilot Micaela Barroso)
• Lily Holloway (pilot Jacqueline Gaffey)

Women's C2

• Amanda Reid
• Annaliese Hodge
• Tahlia Clayton-Goodie

Women's C3

• Emma Mickle

Feature image - Darren Hicks. Picture: SWPix