By Max Davies
A FORMER Kilmore bike rider competed on the international stage in Scotland on Sunday.
Joel Green, 31, who recently moved from Kilmore to Woodend to be closer to mountain biking facilities and other bikers, was selected to represent Australia at the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI, Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.
He was selected to compete in the mountain bike cross-country marathon discipline, alongside his 23-year-old teammate and friend Tali Lane Welsh.
Joel placed 59th out of 101 finishers in the mountain bike cross-country marathon discipline, while Tali came 47th.
This year’s event, from August 3 to 13, was the inaugural edition of the UCI Cycling World Championships, set to be held every four years in the year before each Olympic Games, bringing together a range of various cycling disciplines.
Joel’s father Robert Green, of Lancefield, said his son was excited to have been selected for the national team and competed with a close friend, who was also selected in the same discipline.
“Joel’s absolutely stoked that he got selected and his mate who he trains with also got picked, so they’ve been riding as a team,” he said.
“The two of those guys have been doing some mountain biking competition around here as a team of two, and I think the teamwork they’ve been doing is what’s contributed to them being picked by AusCycling for this event.”
Joel got his start in two-wheeled sports as a young competitor in motocross, with which he was a member of the Broadford Motocross Club and eventually went on to claim the pro open title in the 2016 Victorian Senior Motocross Championships.
While motocross was Joel’s passion, Robert said options for competitions became limited when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing him to look to other sports to keep fit.
“During COVID there was virtually no motocross because it was all shut down in Victoria, so he’d been riding push bikes for training and went to road cycling just to keep fit,” Robert said.
“He joined a club in Seymour and then found that he was really good at road cycling and was winning races on the road.
“He turned to mountain biking and that combined his motocross skills with the downhill speed and everything with his fitness, so it’s all really just clicked for him.”
While Joel was not among the youngest competitors in Scotland, Robert said he was likely one of the least experienced in his discipline.
Joel first secured backing from Wheel House Bikes in Kilmore early in his cycling career, and is now supported by bike manufacturer Giant Bicycles for bikes and parts.
Robert said Joel was a qualified electrician and still worked full-time, unlike many of his competitors, to fund his career.
He said Joel’s dedication to the sport was what helped him catch the attention of AusCycling, as he performed well in a series of Australian mountain biking events to become eligible for UCI competition.
“Joel is incredibly dedicated with his sport, he’s always been like that. Between working full-time and then training, he’s one of the few that isn’t a full-time athlete but has still been able to get to that level,” he said.
“Mountain biking is really becoming big in the Kilmore area, so if the younger mountain bikers know there’s been someone with world champion potential from their town it might really resonate with them.”
For more information on the championships, visit bit.ly/3qhpNKh.
To keep up-to-date with Joel and teammate Tali, visit their Instagram page @commtel_coast.
