Aussie cycling coach lauds Commonwealth Youth Games experience

AUSTRALIAN sprint cycling coach Sean Eadie rated his team’s 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games experience in Trinidad as “good” and said it served as the right prep ahead of the Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Cali, Colombia, from August 23.

Australia’s cyclists dominated the cycling events over the past week and Olympic team sprint bronze medallist Eadie, was pleased with the achievements earned and lessons learnt heading into Cali.

This was his team’s first major international meet and Eadie was happy with his youngsters’ success on the big stage.

“It’s been a wondAustralian sprint coach Eadie lauds Commonwealth Youth Games experience

erful experience in Trinidad for the Commonwealth Youth Games for all of these athletes since it’s their first experience travelling significantly overseas.

“For them to come and meet a lot of different countries and athletes that we don’t know in the village and all that. There were a lot of different experiences that they handled very well,” he said.

Australia’s Ryan Tayte and Samuel Mckee were powerhouses in the men’s races while Lauren Bates, Keira Will and Liliya Tatarinoff showed class in the women’s division.

Malaysia, Scotland and TT also had some strong performances and also finished among the medals in most events.

Eadie credited Australia’s home-based coaches for a job well done and was pleased to have his riders compete against opposition they had little to no prior knowledge of.

“They’ve executed their races well and it was a really good complement to the organisation, the way the races were being run, and also the home coaches back in Australia. The competition was really good and it was interesting to see them race people they know nothing about.

“When you race at home, you know each other’s tactics, so the challenge was for them (Australians) to focus on what their processes were, what they were going to do, what their best race was and executing that, not letting the nerves get to them. That’s the big learning experience that they’ll take away,” he added.

Looking ahead at Junior Worlds, Eadie has faith in his young team that they will be a reckoning force in Colombia.

“This has been a wonderful preparation for the Junior World Championships in a couple weeks in Colombia. It’s tithing very nicely and we’re very happy to be here.

“The results are good because their home coaches did well preparing them. It’s stage one of our final prep for Junior Worlds. We didn’t know what to expect, little bit surprised but very pleased. There’s a good vibe in the group.

“Our depth in Australia is pretty good at our national and state level. We got a lot of athletes and our coaching infrastructure is very strong so a lot of good home coaches, and then we got some state-institute coaches, which is what I am, to help them progress through the pathway with that higher level of understanding and challenging them a bit more to see what they can do better, and what can help them get better for the future, and not just what works now.”