Taylor trains hard for double challenge
Mountainbiker Max Taylor is about to have the biggest year of his career, as he prepares to ride in two major events during the next two months.
The 17-year-old Palmerston North Boys’ High School student has been named in the New Zealand team for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from October 6-18.
He is part of a five-strong cycling team of BMX, mountainbike and road riders.
‘‘It’s going to be a pretty awesome experience,’’ he said.
Taylor is also an accomplished road racer, although he has a strong preference for mountainbiking, due to its technical challenges.
‘‘When it comes to steep and rough sections, I just love it.’’
This previous experience will be helpful for the Youth Olympics, as he will be required to complete five different events over five days, three of which are road events — a criterium, time trial and a road race. The other two mountainbiking events are eliminator and short-track races.
Taylor’s team-mate for the event is BMX rider Cailen Calkin, from Waikato.
Before the Youth Olympics, Taylor is competing at the Under-19 Mountain Bike World Championships this week in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. It’s the biggest competition he has been involved in.
Taylor is aiming for a top-20 finish in this event and would be ‘‘really stoked’’ with a top-10 place. There will be a field of about 80 riders competing in his age group.
He has a quick turnaround between the two competitions, with only a week at home before he travels to Argentina.
Taylor’s training ramped up in preparation for these two major events. Along with riding six days a week, he also has two gym sessions a week.
‘‘I get home from school, have something to eat and go riding for a couple of hours.’’
Despite his heavy training workload, Taylor is used to balancing school and sport.
Boys’ High sports dean David Barwick estimates Taylor has already missed four or five weeks of school this year, but said he does well to keep on top of his schoolwork.