Brothers Aidan and Dillon Geary are nervous and excited ahead of their first Junior Track World Championships which take place in Frankfurt, Germany, from Wednesday till Sunday.
Dillon, 17, will compete in the points race and the team pursuit while Aidan, 18, will tackle the match sprints as well as the 1km time-trial.
“I feel quite nervous but I’m sure I’ve done everything I could have to be prepared for worlds,” said Dillon.
“I’d like to qualify for the final in the points race. For the team pursuit the team would like to ride a respectable time compared to the other nations to see what work lies ahead for next year.”
Dillon Geary won the junior men’s points race at the SA National Track Championships in Cape Town. Keagan van Wyk (left) placed second, with Aidan Geary (right) third. Photo: Owen Lloyd
Dillon said he felt nervous about the points race as it was always difficult to tell how the race would unfold.
“But I’m excited for both the races and to experience this level of racing.
“Kyle Swanepoel and Keagan van Wyk will join me for the team pursuit. We were in America for three weeks to prepare for worlds by training and racing in the highly competitive fields at T-Town.”
Aidan said he could not wait for the championships to begin so he could start learning from the experience.
“My expectations are that the racing will be very hard and exciting, but my goal is just to do my best and learn as much as possible.”
He said he was most excited and nervous about his time-trial as he wanted to try and beat his personal best, which was 1:09.
“I’ve been doing lots of work to increase my power and leg speed.”
Both riders, who live in Benoni, said they were proud to be representing their country at this level.
“I feel proud to be representing South Africa at World Champs as a first-year junior,” said Dillon, who won the junior men’s points race at the SA National Track Championships in March.
Aidan said he would be representing his country for a second time, having competed in the African Continental Track Champs in January where he placed third in the junior men’s keirin, sprint and 1km time-trial.
“I’m very honoured and excited to do so,” he said.
