Age group road national champs on

Westland is about to receive a boost to the economy with more than 500 riders, officials and supporters heading to Hokitika for the Age Group Road National Cycling Championships, including 85-year-old Alan Messenger of Te Awamutu Sports Cycling Club.

The event, from Friday to Sunday this week, is the first national cycling event in the region since the national elite championships in 2004.

It has attracted around 400 riders from 34 clubs from Kaitaia to Invercargill, from 13 years old to 86 years young. They include 130 college-aged riders competing in under-15, under17 and under-19 grades, including several riders preparing for the upcoming UCI World Junior Track Championships in Tel Aviv.

There are 11 riders over the age of 70 competing including three octogenarians — Ashburton’s Merv Grewar, 86, and 85-year-olds Bruce Stanton, the patron of Canterbury Time Trial club, and Messenger, who was the country’s pre-eminent cycling writer for many years.

The biggest club entry comes from Auckland with 51 riders from the Counties Manukau club, 40 from Canterbury Track Cycling, 29 from South Canterbury Cycling Club and 28 from Southland Cycling Club.

The event has also drawn a strong field of Para-cyclists led by Tokyo Paralympian Sarah Ellington (Counties Manukau) and former Paralympic wheelchair tennis player Tiffiney Perry (Morrinsville Wheelers).

Racing begins with time trials on Friday.