Bendigo District Cycling Club rising stars Pat Eddy and Alessia McCaig are taking the next step on the journey to competing against the world's best.
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McCaig, 18, and Eddy, 19, have been identified by AusCycling as having top potential to represent Australia at major sporting events.
The pair will now make the move to Adelaide where they will attend the national Podium Potential Academy under the guidance of the country's best cycling coaches.
"I am really proud of myself and happy that all of the hard work has paid off," McCaig said.
"I've been working towards this for a while, but I am also a bit surprised it's all happened this early."
McCaig's stellar rise to the top includes securing several junior and under-19 track records as well as being a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
McCaig's focus is on excelling within the track discipline and heads to South Australia in early January 2022.
"Once I am over in Adelaide I am expecting it to be quite intense work, but at the same time it's very exciting as it really is the best opportunity out there," she said.
"It will set me up to compete in international competitions such as world cups, championships and possibly ride for Australia at the Commonwealth Games."
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The 2022 categorisation includes a total of 147 athletes who are podium achievers, podium ready, podium potential (77), in addition to 43 emerging and 35 developing from all states and territories across Australia.
The categorisation covers endurance, track sprint, road, BMX racing, BMX freestyle, mountain bike XCO and para-cycling disciplines.
In addition to attending the academy in Adelaide, Eddy will also spend plenty of time in Europe as a contracted rider for Team DSM's road development squad.
"I am very excited to be a part of both programs as they really are the best I could ask for in terms of getting me through the development under-23 years as a cyclist," Eddy said.
"These opportunities potentially allow me to race at the Commonwealth Games, other international track events and road tours over in Europe.
Eddy will be based in the southern Netherlands at Sittard while under the Team DSM program and will attend the Adelaide academy when back in Australia.
"It's going to be a busy year racing a mixed program on the road with Team DSM while also focusing on my track development with the academy in Australia," he said.
"It's an exciting opportunity to be able to refine my track racing while also on the road over in Europe."
For 19-year-old Eddy, it really is a pinch yourself situation as he is on the verge of fulfilling a major career goal.
"I've honestly been dreaming of riding in Europe my whole life and it's pretty cool for it to become reality," he said.
In addition to Eddy and McCaig, fellow Bendigo riders Ned Pollard (Track Sprint - Developing), Blake Agnoletto (Track Endurance - Emerging) and Jack Haig (Podium Potential - Road) were also named in the AusCycling 2022 categorisation.
Australian Cycling Team interim performance director Jesse Korf praised all of the athletes and wished them well for the year ahead.
"There are several different steps towards reaching the podium and the Emerging categorisation level is the first one of those," he said.
"Effectively it's a process where we look at performances and performance trends to get an understanding of where somebody is in their journey towards the podium and whether or not individuals have evidence for a bridgeable gap towards a future podium performance."
Meanwhile, the BDCC is preparing to hold its annual Christmas track event next week on December 28.
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