Description
My name is Matthew Wilson and my dream is to represent New Zealand on the UCI MTB World Cup circuit!
My name is Matthew Wilson and my dream is to become a Professional XCO (Cross-Country Olympic) Mountain Biker and ride my bike for a living. I got involved in racing mountain bikes 6 years ago and have never looked back. Now my life revolves around racing and training. So far the hard work has paid off through my achievements.
In 2019 I was selected to be part of the NZ team for World Champs in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada competing in the Junior Men (U19) event. This was a massive learning curve with it being my first overseas international race. 2020 is my first year stepping up into the U23 age group, but despite the step-up I’ve held my own against the older guys placing 7th in U23 at Oceania’s; 3rd in U23 and 4th in Elite at NZ National Mountain Bike Champs and 2nd in U23 at North Island Champs. I have now been selected to join the National Performance Hub, which is a development team tasked with getting more New Zealand riders competing at a higher level internationally, and supporting them as they move from the Junior to Elite ranks. As a member of the team, I will be travelling to the USA, California in March to compete in several high ranking races to help increase my world ranking and experience. This will be an amazing trip as ever since my first time competing outside NZ I have been wanting to get back overseas and get stuck into some more hard racing.
However, cycling is an expensive sport. I have worked part-time at my local bike shop while at school to save up for gear and to cover the cost of races. As I travel further and strive to compete at an international level the costs continue to increase. I will now be working full time while trying to train full time to save up for the upcoming trip.
