Australian coach Barras joins Cycling NZ

Australian cycling coach Martin Barras has signed on as high performance director for Cycling New Zealand.

Australian cycling guru Martin Barras will join Cycling New Zealand as its new high performance director.

Barras, coach of Australia's national women's road team and director of the Orica-Scott women's team, has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years.

He has also worked in Canada and Great Britain.

"Without reinventing the wheel, we can improve our systems and delivery so that New Zealand continues to punch well above its weight," Barras said.

Cycling New Zealand chief Andrew Matheson said he was glad to have Barras onboard, given his expertise across a range of cycling fields including road, track, mountain bike and BMX riding.

He'll take up the new job from December.