Junior cyclist Eliza McKenzie said pulling on the Silver Fern jersey for the first time was a “pretty cool feeling.”
The seventeen-year old travelled to Zolder, Belgium with the NZ team for the UCI Junior World Track Champs in August.
She had no idea how good she was until she faced off against some of the best junior track riders in the world.
It didn’t take long for her to find out, she rode a personal best in the Individual Pursuit and helped the NZ Women's Endurance Team finish fifth in the world in the Team Pursuit.
"Riding against those international riders was a massive boost.
"Hearing all the different languages on the start line was fun,” she said.
In order to combat nerves, Eliza works on visualisation and breathing exercises with Sports Psychologist Ilia Lyndsay.
Her coach Terry Gyde from Canterbury Cycling has a style Eliza finds relatable.
"He is just amazing, he is good at listening to me and understanding what I am saying.
"If I am not feeling great, I can tell him and that opens further discussion.”
Last week, Eliza cleaned-up at the U20 South Island and NZ Schools Nationals held in the Invercargill Velodrome.
She won three of her four cycling disciplines, and finished third in the standing 250m sprint.
These results have earned her two titles: the U20 Women’s South Island Schools Track Champion and the NZ Schools U20 Women’s Track Champion.
Eliza is now building towards the New Zealand Championships in Cambridge early next year and to earn herself a place in the junior Kiwi cycling team heading to Paris in 2027.
Cycling New Zealand have their eye on her and Eliza has earned a place at the Women’s Endurance Project 2032 Camp in Cambridge in December. The camp is part of the national body’s pathway to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics plan.
Eliza, who is in Year 12 at Ashburton College, trains on her bike six days a week, which includes travelling to Christchurch for hill rides for around 40-70km and track training.
She also hits the gym a couple of times a week.
She admits juggling school work and training commitments can be tricky, but she makes it work and grabs study time when she can.
Mock exams have finished and soon it will be end of year exams.
Eliza said having the right people and support helped in cycling.
She started when her parents took her to the Tinwald Cycling Club’s Whizzie Wheels Friday night programme when she was age 10.
“The Tinwald cycling community have always been amazing, even lending me a bike and shoes when I first started,” she said.
"I wouldn’t be doing any of this with out them or the ongoing support of the Ashburton community.”
Funding had also been boosted with grants from Braided Rivers Community Trust and Rotary Club of Ashburton.
"Those grants helped me a lot with getting to Belgium,” she said.
The racing was not officially live streamed anywhere, which was frustrating for her parents back home in New Zealand.
But mum, Nina, said one of other parents from the Levin Cycling Club set up an iPad in the stand and streamed the Kiwi races for those back home.
"There was no commentary and the parents took turns at operating the iPad.”
Once word spread among the international community, the club gained more than 1000 new followers in one day.