Cycling: London lure for star Kiwi riders

Three-time world champion Sarah Walker heads the field at next weekend's national championships. Photo / APN

BMX riders from all over New Zealand, from under 5 to over 50, will come up against some of the world's best in the New Zealand Championships in North Harbour over Easter.

Led by three-time world champion Sarah Walker, the three-day RaboDirect championships will be a further opportunity for the country's best BMX high performance riders to display their world-class skills as they push towards next year's London Olympics and beyond.

All of Bike NZ's high performance team, apart from US-based Marc Willers, have returned from last week's UCI Supercross World Cup in South Africa to compete.

They are led by Walker, the 2009 world champion, who was runner-up in South Africa.

Also competing will be a rejuvenated Kurt Pickard (Tauranga), who was a semifinalist in the first round Supercross, and Pukekohe junior Trent Woodcock and Cambridge's Kurt James, who both qualified in the top 64 riders in South Africa.

Walker, ranked No 1 in the world, always looks forward to her national championships.

"I love racing at home. It's where I started in the sport and it's good to see some of the talent coming up," she said. "For me it's more of a chance to help them out and just enjoy the weekend."

Walker, who races for the Rotorua club, said she was pleased with her start to the year with victory in the Oceania Continental event at Puni near Pukekohe and her runner-up effort in South Africa in the opening round of the Supercross World Cup.

"The Oceania event was my first event for more than five months and coming back after injury, so I had no expectation. The results were a pleasant surprise.

"I've been working hard on and off the track, so it was a boost. I did not think I would be on the pace in South Africa. I qualified second but on the finals day I was the fastest in each of the races until the final.

"I didn't have a good one and made a mistake on the first jump. That put me behind and on that track, it was pretty much impossible to catch up."

Her aim is to develop the strength of women's BMX - no other elite women are on the international stage, even though at present they qualify two spots for London.

For Pickard, the national event is an opportunity to retain the title he won last year in Puni, when he upset Willers, who was returning from injury.

Pickard had two serious injuries after his international debut with the BikeNZ team in Europe, and was later dropped from the US-based squad.

After some time out, the young Tauranga rider has rededicated himself to the sport, producing a standout effort to place seventh in the final of the Oceania event in his first major competition.

BikeNZ gave him the chance to compete in the Supercross in South Africa but he had to pay his own way.

Pickard did that and impressed everyone. He qualified 13th and rode strongly before bowing out in the semifinals.

That has earned him a reprieve and he will be funded to the next round in the Netherlands.

"I am loving it back in the sport," he said. "I've worked hard and really want it badly."

He sold his much-beloved car to help pay for his trip to South Africa and is keen to continue to show his stuff.

New Zealand is ranked with two riders to qualify for London, so there is a big carrot dangling for him.

Pickard will get some stern competition, especially from James who has improved significantly under the guidance of national coach Ken Cools, and will be chasing his first elite national title.

Woodcock (Sunset Coast) will lead a talented group of elite juniors including high performance teammates Nick Fox (Gisborne), Daniel Franks (Christchurch) and Trent Jones (Whangarei).

There will be four world champions on show led by Rotorua's Dave Mohi (30 plus), Tahlia Hansen (Rangiora), Rico Bearman (North Harbour), Lachlan Stevens-McNabb (Rotorua) and Nicole Saarten (New Plymouth).

But they won't have it all their own way. New Zealand managed a further 10 podium finishes at last year's world championship.

The weekend starts with the selection event for the New Zealand Mighty 11s team to take on Australia this year.

Saturday features the domestic UCI ranking round, and the national titles will be decided on Sunday at the North Harbour BMX track in Albany.

BMX

The BMX National Championships will be hosted by the North Shore BMX Club between April 22 and 24.

Three-time world champion and world No 1 Sarah Walker will be in action after finishing runner-up at the UCI Supercross World Cup.

It is another opportunity for Kurt Pickard, who has enjoyed a comeback to international competition, to press his claims for a spot in the New Zealand Olympic team next year