Paralympian #220 Eltje Malzbender has continued her sterling form with yet another silver World Cup medal in her final event of the Québec City 2022 UCI Para Cycling Road World Cup. To top it off, Malzbender has won the sought-after 2022 World Cup Series jersey, earning a huge smile from the T1 tricyclist.
Malzbender completed the 26.4km road race in 1:11:23, +3.44 behind Mexico’s Dulce Gonzalez Guerrero in first place.
Team coach Damian Wiseman credits the Para cyclist’s work ethic and coaching with her consistent success this year.
“The work that Eltje and her coach Hannah van Kampen have put in has shown up in Eltje’s ability to consistently deliver exceptional results over this whole World Cup season.
“Here in Québec she has had a road race today in hot conditions, working incredibly hard, fighting her way to keep pace with Gonzalez Guerrero who won.”
Malzbender lives with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) after a suspected hit and run during a training ride. She competes in the T1 classification, which is for tricyclists with significant balance and co-ordination impairments and problems controlling movements.
Teammate Paralympian #196 Stevo Hills also had a great race today, earning 4th place out of a competitive field in the men’s T2 road race.
The Québec World Cup concludes tonight with road races for Nicole Murray, Fraser Sharp and Sarah Ellington.
Malzbender and the rest of the five-strong New Zealand team will race again from Thursday at the 2022 UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships.
For further information, go to https://paralympics.org.nz/news/para-cycling-team-heads-to-canada-for-road-world-championships/
Key points:
- Paralympian #220 Eltje Malzbender has won the silver medal in the women’s T1 road race and been awarded the 2022 Women’s T1 World Cup Series jersey.
- Malzbender has won silver in each of her six events across the three Para Cycling World Cups this year.
