Champ crowdfunds to save pro career
A champion New Zealand cyclist who fled Italy’s Covid-19 red zone has been forced to crowdfund to salvage her professional career.
2020 was supposed to be the year Nelson woman Niamh FisherBlack fulfilled her dream of becoming a professional cyclist after signing with Women’s WorldTour team Bigla-Katusha.
But the Swiss team’s future is now in serious danger after its two title sponsors withdrew their funding due to the effects of Covid19 on their businesses.
Fisher-Black, who survives on a salary below New Zealand’s minimum wage to cover expenses, said the news came as a massive shock.
‘‘It was a real shock, especially because of the future.
‘‘Everything is uncertain already but knowing our team is completely unstable too,’’ FisherBlack said.
‘‘We’ll be scraping through to get enough money just to get back to racing if the racing season does start again.
‘‘It’s pretty devastating to hear that your team is not stable and doesn’t know if it will make it through this.’’
The 19-year-old had only moved to Italy in February, catching her flight hours after winning the women’s road race at the New Zealand championships.
But it was not long before Fisher-Black was escaping back home to New Zealand after Covid19 spread through Lombardy, sending the country into lockdown and forcing the cancellation of all of her upcoming races.
Facing a funding shortfall, it remains unclear whether she will have a team to return to. However, to help ensure the team’s survival the riders, including another Kiwi, Mikayla Harvey, have started a crowdfunding campaign via BiglaKatusha’s website.
Fisher-Black said it will give the riders the best possible chance to continue the Women’s WorldTour season when it is safe to resume. They are also on the lookout for new sponsors.
‘‘The crowdfunding is aimed to be a short-term solution, so we can continue supporting the riders of the team and the staff and we can have enough funding to start the races if it does start this season because we still have big events like the world championships at the end of the season and a lot of meets have been postponed until later in the year.’’
Fisher-Black said the team had committed to paying the riders’ salaries for the rest of the month but it was unclear whether they would be paid beyond that.