PRESS RELEASE City cyclists today have been buoyed by the news that Cycling Australia has released its official selection criteria for the 2014 Commuter Olympics.
The Cyclone Hubbards, as the team will be known, will comprise 14 of the nation's top commuter cyclists. Hubbard High Performance Manager Harry Halfwheel has high hopes for the contingent:
"The Commuter Olympics is an opportunity for Australia's fastest commuters to thrash it out on the world stage. Cycling to work is certainly still a minority sport in this country, but I've seen enough high-speed bike path crashes to know that we are not short of hubbard talent. While Australia doesn't boast the grass roots commuter development seen in nations like the Netherlands, I am expecting the Cyclone Hubbards to really ignite Australians' passion for racing total strangers down city streets on unroadworthy bikes."
The selection criteria, set out below, sets qualification standards based on technical skills, performance in commuter events, and number of urban Strava segments held by the athlete. Rigorous clothing regulations apply, including minimum standards for high-viz jackets and maximum numbers for zip ties in helmets.
SELECTION CRITERIA: 2014 COMMUTER OLYMPICS - AUSTRALIAN TEAM
(Maximum long team size is twice the qualified quota in UCI ranking system for nations. Only cyclists in the 2014 national long team will be considered for selection to the final 2014 Australian team.)
The selectors will consider the following in determining the 2014 Commuter Oympics national team:
- Mandatory Events/Requirements
Final team selection (clause 4) will be subject to a cyclist having satisfied conditions below.
- Riders must have competed in at least one of the following during the previous 5 years:
- Around The Bay in a Day;
- BRW or Ironman distance triathlon;
- Any qualification events for the World Cross-Fit Games (one of which must involve a tractor tyre).
In all cases, the rider must have purchased and worn the official event t-shirt on a Casual Friday.
2. Automatic Selections
A maximum of 2 riders who attain top ranking on 2 or more Strava segments within the CBD of their home city will be added to the final team. For the avoidance of doubt, a Strava segment will be considered to lie within the CBD if it falls within a 4km radius of the GPO and contains at least 1 set of traffic lights. The colour of the traffic lights at the time the rider passes through them will not be taken into account at the time of recording the Strava segment.
3. Additional Team Selections
- Selectors will identify the remaining final national team members based on a mixture of talent that may include bike path handling skills, pannier loading aptitude and general panache. Particular regard will be given to a cyclist’s demonstrated ability for overtaking a bunch of commuters sitting stationary at traffic lights just so that they can get first jump when the lights turn green.
- In no specific order of priority, selectors will consider the following factors:
- Proportion of high-viz wear worn by the individual as a total proportion of their clothing. Particular attention will be given to reflective ankle cuffs;
- Number of zip ties worn by the rider in their helmet (generally seen around springtime but consideration will be given to riders sporting a helmet echidna all year round);
- Individual performances in cross-dressing (judged as the wearing of multiple pro team kits simultaneously); and
- The rider's peripheral vision, demonstrated by their ability to subtly check out the commuters they've just passed through a slight sideways tilt of the head.
3. National Coach's Choice
One position on the final Olympic team will be decided by the National Coach based on the best pain face demonstrated by a rider on Melbourne's Eastern Freeway bike path travelling:
- in an easterly direction;
- between the hours of 6 and 8pm; and
- on a gradient of no greater than 5%.
4. Selection Schedule
- 21 September: Long team announced by CA
- 30 September: Closing date for appeals against non-selection into the long team
- 2 October: Selectors submit final team selections for endorsement by CA CEO
- 5 October: Final team announced (UCI entry cut-off date)
