Former Hastings duo Alani Cockshutt and Jonah Hamer along with Coffs Harbour's Asher Fawle are three names to have previously competed in the NSW Junior Cycling Tour event in Port Macquarie.
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The tour - a shortened version of the Tour de France - runs around the Burrawan Forest Drive circuit.
In two weeks, the trio will head to the Netherlands as part of an eight-person Cycling NSW under-19 development team that will have the opportunity to race in Europe for a month.
Team manager and Port Macquarie Cycle Club member Melinda Cockshutt said it was exciting for the Hastings region to host an event that has such proud history.
"They started at the Junior Tour and now a lot of them are high school or uni students about to start on a pathway with a team that feeds into intercontinental teams in Europe, so it's pretty exciting," she said.
"The Port Tour has got massive history; everyone loves coming up here and racing because it's got a bit of everything - a few hills, good crit racing and just fun stuff for the kids.
"Hopefully it's a bit of inspiration for the kids that are going to race this weekend that they can see if they want to continue their cycling, the world is their oyster really."
Cycling NSW chief executive Graeme Seers said the opportunity for the development team to head overseas will provide riders with their first taste of high-level racing.
The development team concept has been put on the backburner over the last two years due to the pandemic, but Seers said the time to shine was now with professional contracts on the line.
"Some of the riders going over there could get a pro contract, they could be riding in the Olympics in the next five years and they could be in Brisbane 2032 in the next ten," he said.
"There's all these things that this could lead to.
"Most Olympians do their first Olympics at 22-24 years old and the second Olympics is where they can be in a position where they're knocking on the door for medals.
"This is all about that pathway and where it could lead to if, as a cyclist, that's where you want to go to."
He said it was a unique opportunity.
"We're sending riders to what we consider to be the hub of the sport, or the centre of the sport," he said.
"The Netherlands have always contributed traditionally and historically to world programs. By sending our juniors over there in their formative years, they're going to get an opportunity to see what the other side of the world does and what it's like."
This weekend's Junior Tour event will provide Port Macquarie Cycle Club with a chance to rebound as community sport begins to emerge from the pandemic.
"This tour is about reigniting the club because the club's been struggling as a result of the pandemic like many clubs throughout Australia in all sports, not just cycling," Seers said.
"This is about offering junior members another opportunity to return to the sport."
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