Sam Gale will be representing Cycling New Zealand on the world stage at the 2018 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Mountainbike World Championship, in Lenzerheide Switzerland, in September.
After achieving good results at the Mountainbike Under 19 World Cup circuit, in Europe in May, Sam will now be testing his mettle against the world’s best in the downhill section of the championship.
The 17 year old says he loves the adrenalin of the sport and is aiming high for the future, “I wouldn’t want to do anything else. Hopefully, one day it will be my job, to be a pro mountainbike rider, that would be pretty cool.”
Training on mostly local tracks, like the downhill track at Ben Nevis, Sam has three coaches across the country to keep him focused and at the top of his game. “They send me a gym programme each week that I have to complete, which Cycling New Zealand put together.”
His biggest supporters, Sam says, are his mum and dad, Jill and Grant Gale.
“Dad mountainbikes with me, which is really cool. He follows me, he tries to keep up,” Sam says cheekily, “and mum comes to most of my races.”
Mum Jill is understandably proud of her son. “We are very, very proud of him. He has the potential to go very far.”
The family have set up a ‘Help Sam get to World Champs!’ Givealittle page to assist with some of the expenses, “every little bit helps,” says Jill.