Cyclists on track for success at Rio Games

New Zealand are riding to Rio.

Byron Raubenheimer and Emma Foy, who rides with her sighted pilot, Laura Thompson, are members of New Zealand’s eight-strong cycling team.

Raubenheimer only became involved in para-cycling in 2014, after competing in para-snowboarding until 2013.

His time on the slopes saw the 25-year-old achieve a ninth-placed finish at the IPC World Championships in 2012.

But snowboarding wasn’t financially viable for Raubenheimer, who was born in London and lived in South Africa before moving to New Zealand when he was 10, as he juggled the sport with his former profession as a full-time chef at Regatta in Takapuna.

But Raubenheimer quit the kitchen for the track, and he’s been competing on the world circuit since last year.

He finished ninth at this year’s World Championships which were held in Italy.

Paralympics New Zealand first approached him to try paracycling. He said the transfer of skills between snowboarding and cycling wasn’t too difficult.

‘‘[The skills] transfer themselves pretty easily. They’re quite similar in regards to leg strength and core strength,’’ said Raubenheimer.

‘‘It was more just a case of crossing that over to cycling and getting my muscles working for cycling.

‘‘The whole balancing and cornering came across pretty naturally, so that probably helped me progress quite quickly.’’

Raubenheimer was born with paraxial fibular hemimelia, which is an absence of the fibula.

He is also missing two toes on his right foot and his right leg is three inches shorter than his left.

When he was 12, Raubenheimer’s right leg was amputated below the knee, which he said ‘was the best decision’ he ever made.

The Paralympics in Tokyo in 2020 was originally the target for Raubenheimer, who now resides in Auckland.

But his performances on the world stage saw him selected for this year’s Games in Rio.

‘‘It was awesome to see the calibre of athletes I was up against, and to finish in the top 10 was pretty incredible after just a few years in the sport.’’

Foy and Thompson head to Rio with three consecutive world titles in the women’s B 3km pursuit on the track.

But the pair, who train together in Cambridge, have been successful in other events, and they’ll compete on the track in the 3km pursuit and the 1km time trial on the track, as well as on the road in the time trial and the road race.

Thompson, 29, has been a sighted pilot for seven years with Paralympics NZ and first teamed up with Foy, 27, in 2014.

They’ve since become best friends and world champions, with the Games in Rio the pinnacle of their careers.

Born in Dargaville, Foy is visually impaired, after she was born with ocular cutaneous, which affects her skin, hair and eyes.

‘‘I think we’re really lucky to train and be able to do what we do,’’ she said.

‘‘I love cycling and I love competing, and I’ve probably made one of my best friends in Laura,’’ Foy said.

Their first world championships together were in Mexico in 2014, where they won gold in world record time.