Oceania Cycling Confederation President Tracey Gaudry and the Executive Board wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

2018 was another year of growth for the Oceania Cycling Confederation as the Cook Islands became our eighth member in September, with more Pacific nations expected to join in 2019.

The launch of the Pacific Open Road and Mountain Bike Calendar this year supported the development of cycling in our region. With seven events held across six Pacific nations a sign of the continued growth of the sport. The second coaching and officiating technical course was held in December ahead of the Tour of Guam, by Mountain Bike Australia and UCI accredited coach Adam Kelsall with representatives from across the Pacific attending.

On the bike riders from Oceania continued to be a force across the globe winning elite and junior world titles on the road and track and international success in BMX and Mountain Bike at World Cup level. Oceania riders took home 17 gold medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, with cycling a significant part of the Games’ sport program.

The Oceania Cycling Confederation held four successful Oceania Championship events over the past 12 months and would like to thank the event hosts Cycling New Zealand (Mountain Bike in Dunedin), BMX Australia (BMX in Bunbury), Cycling Tasmania (Road in Tasmania) and Cycling Australia (Track in Adelaide) and we look forward to the upcoming championships in 2019 as the Olympic qualifying period for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games continues.

Cycling in 2019 will roar from the start line with a busy summer of cycling that starts with the Australian and New Zealand Road National Championships in the opening week of January. The UCI World Tour also opens in Oceania, at the Santos Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, with both also featuring a women’s race.

Track cycling will also be in focus with the fifth round of the 2018/19 Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Cambridge as part of a busy two weeks of racing in New Zealand that features the 2019 Oceania BMX Championships, Gravel and Tar and New Zealand Cycle Classic road races.

We hope you stay safe on the bike over the holiday period and look forward to seeing you in 2019.