Top Kiwi cyclist questions Cycling NZ's Road World Championships funding policy

Cycling New Zealand's long-held policy of not funding elite riders for the Road World Championships has come under fire from professional rider Finn Fisher-Black who has described the situation as creating "a strange dynamic".Fisher-Black will pay his own way to compete at his third elite Road World Championships alongside Ben Oliver, Corbin Strong, George Bennett, Joshua Kench and Laurence Pithie in Canada next week.In line with Cycling New Zealand's (CNZ) selection criteria of the last four annual Road World Championships a women's team of Bronwyn MacGregor, Ella Wyllie, Henrietta Christie and Niamh Fisher-Black will also compete without funding from the national body.Finn Fisher-Black highlighted the potential for self-funding to cause a division amongst the riders who could put self-interest ahead of the team on the world stage."It's a strange dynamic for NZ because we don't get funding from Cycling New Zealand; we all pay to be there, so it's also a strange dynamic, like we all kind of also want to do our own race," Fisher-Black told Cycling News."But we're all good mates from New Zealand so it'll probably be about looking out for each other during the race and try to have numbers during the final and take it from there."The 24-year-old said CNZ "prioritise the track" and questioned why after his sister Niamh had finished second at last year's Road World Championships there was no change to the funding situation for road riders.In a statement, Cycling New Zealand chief executive officer Simon Peterson told RNZ the national body was predominately funded by High-Performance New Zealand for track cycling, which is unchanged in the LA 2028 Olympic cycle."The achievements of New Zealand road cyclists have been impressive in both women and men, the current position has been clearly communicated to all riders for some years and before they make a decision to compete at the World Championships," Peterson said."Consistent with prior years, CNZ has committed $70,000 for the Road World Championships this year to cover UCI requirements and on the ground delivery. This is in-line with our investment agreement with High Performance Sport New Zealand."Fisher-Black, who rides professionally with Red Bull- BORA-hansgrohe, finished on the podium at last month's Tour de Pologne and told Cycling News he was targeting a top 10 finish on the hilly Montreal course.If he were to achieve that, he would be the first elite male New Zealander since Julian Dean in 2005 to break into the top 10 at the Road World Championships.