Will takes on world in Canada
GEELONG racer Will Arblaster will tackle the pinnacle of his sport at just 17 years of age, by representing Australia at this month’s UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships.
The Manifold Heights teen was one of seven Aussies selected to compete in Canada, with the annual event kicking off on August 28.
“I haven’t represented Australia directly before but I’ve been in the Australian junior development squad for a year,” Arblaster said.
“The world champs are in MontSainte-Anne, Canada, so I’m pretty keen to head over there. It should be good. We basically go as fast as we can from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill.
“There’s a laser beam at the start and a laser beam at the finish and you’re basically racing against the clock; there are no other competitors on the track beside from you.”
Arblaster competed in all the national rounds and then in national and Oceania championships before being selected for the international trip.
“You’ve got to race all the national rounds, which were Mt Buller, Mt Baw Baw and Bright and you’ve got to do significantly well,” he said. “I was sitting top five overall. Then you’ve got to go to the national champions and Oceania champs and you get UCI points through those two rounds.
“They were held in Bright this year, back-to-back. I wasn’t the best at the national champs but then did not too bad at Oceania.
“Then you’ve got to apply to Cycling Australia and they hand-pick from that group and seven go over.”
Having raced downhill since the age of 14, Arblaster said he was hoping for a top-20 finish.
“I’m not quite sure how many competitors there will be but anything in that top 20, top 15, that would be a good tick of the box,” he said.
“Anything higher like top 10 would be unreal.”