Australia's Olympic track cycling gold medallist Anna Meares will take time out this Sunday,...
Anna Meares will check out new talent (Image credit: Anna Meares)
Australia's Olympic track cycling gold medallist Anna Meares will take time out this Sunday, November 23, to visit the inaugural Victorian Women's Omnium Championship being held at the Darebin International Sports Centre Velodrome.
Presented by CycleSport Victoria and the Brunswick Cycling Club, the event will see almost 50 women contest the 'pentathlon or decathlon' of cycling, which features five events – flying 200m, scratch race, individual pursuit, points race and time trial.
As all events must be completed, cyclists will need to be good at sprinting, time trialling and bunch racing in order to give themselves a chance to take the title.
Meares, who is currently in Melbourne for the UCI Track Cycling World Cup, said she was thrilled to take time out to visit the Women's Omnium to show her support for women in the sport.
"It's great to see this type of competition being run for the girls," she said. "Cycling events have traditionally been geared towards the men, so it's good to see women being encouraged to race with events organised specifically for them."
CycleSport Victoria's Women's Committee chairperson Lawrence Maskill said this event has received strong interest from female cyclists. "CycleSport Victoria has been working to encourage more women into all competitive cycling, whether track or road, and this is our inaugural Women's Omnium Championship," Maskill said.
"We have a very strong turnout of competitors – some of Victoria's finest across the age ranges – and also have a fantastic bunch of sponsors on board to ensure the competition will be fierce. We expect it to become a major national event for women riders in the coming years."
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
