NZ Champ set to race international double-header

19-year-old Maria Laurie from Christchurch is in Araxá this month, as she looks to gain UCI points that will be crucial to her race season.

The U23 National champ will wear the fern on her jersey as she tackles Brazil’s gnarly red clay tracks.

"We got on the course today to do some laps, there’s some pretty huge features.

"It's so well built that if you hit it with enough speed it sorts itself out - it’s just having the confidence to commit."

With two short track (XCC) races and two longer cross-country Olympic (XCO) races on the schedule, it's a packed couple of weeks for the riders.

"It’s a pretty cool course, it’s going to be hectic," Laurie says.

"I love racing short track so it’ll be so cool to do it in a World Cup."

Laurie is looking to expand on the success of her NZ summer, having just come off a stellar season at home. With wins in both the U23 National XCO race in February and the U23 Oceania XCO two weeks ago, she’s cementing her name as one to watch.

"The Oceania's course was just steep, there’s not really any flat on it, it’s pretty relentless!"

She has raced extensively in Europe over the last two years, but this will be her first time in South America.

"The legs are good, they’ve come right.

"It took a long time to get here, it’s a long flight and a long drive, and it’s really hot, but we’re getting there."

Her preparation coming into some of the most important races on the calendar has been mixed, as she juggles both her Engineering degree and training schedule.

"I had a pretty big block at the end of last year with some longer endurance rides like Whaka100 and Edition Zero, and then built on that for a bit of speed before Nationals and Oceanias.

"The last few weeks have just been kind of maintaining that and doing a bit of speed work."

Laurie says her fundraising for the trip was a success, with a raffle and quiz night drawing local support.

"There’s a lot of professional teams over here, you don’t get a lot of privateering [people doing it on their own] in Brazil, especially since it’s a pretty interesting place to travel so we might be the only ones."

The U23 Women’s racing gets under way today, with races on the 6th, 7th, 12th and 13th of April (NZST).