Brisbane to host first combined Oceania Cycling Championships in 2022
The Oceania Cycling Confederation, AusCycling, Tourism and Events Queensland, and the Brisbane Economic Development Agency are delighted to announce that Brisbane, Australia, will host the first combined Oceania Cycling Championships, from March 27 to April 11 in 2022.
Oceania Championship titles will be contested across the eight disciplines of BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, Mountain Bike Cross Country, Para-cycling (road and track), Road (time trial and road race) and Track. The Oceania Gran Fondo Challenge will also be contested as a non-Championship event.
Over the last four years Brisbane has become a national leader in cycling, hosting the track cycling at the Commonwealth Games, the Australian Track National Championships since 2017, a UCI Track World Cup in December 2019, the international Six Day series final, as well as the growing Tour de Brisbane.
Oceania Cycling Confederation President Tony Mitchell said; “the UCI and Oceania Cycling Confederation are delighted the combined Oceania Cycling Championships will be held in Brisbane in 2022. The Oceania Championships are the pinnacle events for our Confederation, which sees the best athletes in the region competing for these prestigious titles.”
AusCycling CEO, Marne Fechner said; “we are pleased to be providing a unique inter-disciplinary competition opportunity that will feature all of the Oceania Cycling Championships together.”
The Oceania Cycling Championships is supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland, and the Brisbane City Council via the Brisbane Economic Development Agency.
2022 Oceania Championship Schedule
Mountain Bike (XCO) – March 27
Track (incl. Para-cycling) – April 2-5
BMX Racing – April 9
BMX Freestyle – April 10
Road (incl. Para-cycling) – April 10, Time Trial (incl. Para-cycling) – April 11
Gran Fondo Challenge– April 10
Guam to host inaugural Pacific Cup in 2021
The Oceania Cycling Confederation (OCC) is pleased to confirm that the inaugural staging of the Pacific Cup for Road Cycling will go ahead in Guam from December 10 to 12 this year.
The Pacific Cup represents an important first step in the development of an athlete pathway for Pacific island cyclists. The 2021 version is for road cycling with Road Time Trial and Road Race medals up for grabs for both men and women.
Despite the current situation regarding COVID-19, Guam is well advanced in creating a safe environment with a very achievable opportunity for riders from the Pacific who can provide evidence of a clean bill of health to enter the country and participate in the Pacific Cup.
OCC Pacific Development Manager, Graham Fredericks, said; “the Pacific Cup has been a priority objective of our Pacific development strategy for a couple of years now and the OCC Executive Board were keen to proceed and make it happen.”
“We understand that some island nations may find it difficult to participate due to COVID, however, early indications have given us confidence that we will have a keenly contested event later this year.
“We are grateful for the support of the Guam Visitors Bureau and the Guam Cycling Federation for enabling the Pacific Cup to become a reality,” Fredericks added.
Pacific Foundation Instructor Online Course launched
At the grassroots end of their Pacific development strategy, Oceania Cycling Confederation has partnered with AusCycling to launch the Pacific Foundation Instructor Course.
The Pacific Foundation Instructor Course is designed to provide flexible delivery of cycling instructor accreditation for members of Pacific Group 4 national federations to enable them to deliver riding programs for a variety of cycling disciplines – including BMX, MTB and ROAD.
The course is presented through an online portal by AusCycling and provides the key elements of the cycling instructor delivery practices, with the theory component delivered through e-learning and a practical learning and assessment generally conducted via video. The course is aimed at individuals who want to assist others to learn the skills of riding a bicycle within community and club programs.
The course is an introduction to becoming a cycling coach via a single discipline approach with the opportunity to upskill into other cycling disciplines and/or higher levels of accreditation.
While the OCC have previously delivered successful face-to-face coach education courses, the logistics and costs involved in Pacific travel have been limiting factors. This new online course option for coaching – and officiating to follow – is anticipated to expedite getting more people on the ground coaching cycling skills.