Australia opts for youth at Cali UCI Track World Cup

Led by veteran sprint stalwart Shane Perkins, Australia will take 13 young riders into the third and final UCI Track World Cup round of the 2014/15 season.

Heading to Cali, Colombia on 17-18 January, 2015, are reigning junior world champions Macey Stewart, Alexandra Manly and Lauren Perry who will be joined by Elissa Wundersitz for the team pursuit.

Sam Welsford, who part of the 'teenage pursuit team' in Guadalajara, returns for his second World Cup of the season. He will be joined by London World Cup silver medallist Scott Law and brother Jackson Law who won the national Madison title last week.

Tirian McManus, a dual Track World World Cup gold medallist earlier in 2014, and 2013 team pursuit junior world champion Joshua Harrison will also line up.

In the sprint events, rising stars Rikki Belder, who recently won the Keirin ahead of Anna Meares at the Austral carnival, and Caitlin Ward have been named.

2013 team sprint junior world champion Patrick Constable, who finished second to Matthew Glaetzer in the sprint competition at the Austral, and former Junior World Championship silver medallist Emerson Harwood will compete.

"The Cali World Cup is an important opportunity for our developing athletes to gain crucial big event exposure and to experience and manage the travel required of elite track athletes at the International level," said Cycling Australia's National Performance Director, Kevin Tabotta.

"Our 2015 World Championship and 2016 Rio qualification strategy is progressing well with performances in the first two World Cups which allows the bulk of our worlds hopefuls to now knuckle down into some solid uninterrupted preparation, to be ready for Paris (world championships) in February.

"However Shane Perkins will be one rider in our elite squad who has targeted Cali as part of his progression to Paris. He will be looking to register performances in Cali reflective of some of the excellent numbers we are seeing on the training track."

Note: Cycling Central will stream the final session LIVE from Colombia.