World number three ranked Marc Willers leads a five-strong New Zealand attack on the third round of the UCI BMX World Supercross in the Netherlands this weekend.
The Californian-based rider has recovered from niggling injuries after crashes in the first two rounds in California and Norway to return to the challenging Papendal circuit where he was triumphant last year.
The BikeNZ team is still without last years Papendal winner Sarah Walker and Kurt Pickard, who leave today to join the team but will not compete at the weekend with both recovering from injuries received at the crash-marred Norway Supercross last month.
Walker is pleased with her progress after dislocating her shoulder.
The shoulder is going great and I am feeling really good about the progress I have made, Walker said.
The doctor is really impressed with where I am at after three and a half weeks. I have a huge range of motion and the strength is there. Ive been told a usual patient could spend four to six weeks in a sling before moving so I am way ahead of schedule.
Walker and Pickard will join the team at the weekend before they head to London where the riders will spend three days training on the revamped Olympic track.
From there the group head to Birmingham for the world championships starting on 24 April.
It is a busy time for us but really important, said BikeNZ BMX National Coach Ken Cools.
This weekend is a good opportunity for the squad to compete on a challenging course.
Marc (Willers) has had some ill-fortune this year so far but this is a track he absolutely nailed last year. So he is looking to step it up this weekend.
Cools said the opportunity to practice on the London track is vital.
There are apparently some significant changes to it from when we rode in the test event last year. It will be a key few days for us to begin to dial in looking ahead to the Olympics.
Willers will lead a BikeNZ team this weekend that includes Kurt James (Cambridge), Nic Fox (Gisborne), Daniel Franks (Christchurch) and Matt Cameron (New Plymouth).
Practice is on Friday local time, with time trials and super time trial on Saturday and elimination rounds on Sunday.
