James Gardner
JAMES Gardner has taken away national championships in road cycling.
The 17yearold has seen success in both road cycling and mountain biking,
When he is not on his bike, James is working in a bike shop or working hard at school in his efforts to become an engineer, an interest he found through cycling.
Road cycling and mountain biking are different disciplines, each requiring specific training and a disciplined approach to the many aspects relating to the requirements of each bike, terrain and race.
Competitions can be intense, but he finds it important to learn from each experience.
He attributes a lot of his success to his attitude of learning, balancing off and on the bike and preparing mentally and physically, which has been ingrained in him by his mentors, the local riding community and the Otago Academy of Sport.
He believes the most important thing is to enjoy being on the bike.
If he has fun, the results follow. In July he travelled to the United States to compete in the Intelligentsia Cup in Chicago with the MitoQ NZ Cycling Project team.
Achievements: Cycling NZ U19 national road race champion (2022); U17 individual time trial champion (2021); Cycling New Zealand Criterium National Championships (2021); U17 National Champion (2021); Cycling New Zealand National Road Series U17 National Champion (1st Crit, 1st ITT & 1st Zwift) (2021); MitoQ New Zealand Cycling Project Team (20202022); HPSNZ Otago Academy of Sport Year 3 Athlete (2020, 2021, 2022); Otago Sports emerging talent finalist (2022); Fight For Yellow 2 Day Stage Tour A Grade Overall Winner General Classification (2022); Cycling NZ Criterium National Championships U19 5th (2022); Southland Festival of Cycling Gore to Invercargill 1st overall (2022); Lake Dunstan Road Race 96km 2nd overall (2022); YUNCA Junior Tour of Southland Runnerup General Classification U17 (2021); New Zealand Junior U19 Development, Yunca Tour of Southland (2021); Level 1, 2 excellence (2020, 2021); Academic Blues (2021, 2022); year 12 first in physics (2021); year 12 first in metalwork (2021); Commendations (2020, 2021). Role models: His cycling mentor Chris Henderson, for putting him on the right path and making sure he remembers to have fun. Hopes for the future: To study engineering and continue cycling.