Rory Mead, the Porirua-born Paralympian and former motocross champion, is back on the world stage this week as he competes in the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Belgium.
Now based in Athens, Georgia, Mead will represent New Zealand in both the individual time trial and the road race as part of a one-off European campaign geared toward the long road to the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
A decade ago, Mead’s life changed dramatically after a motocross crash in the USA left him with a spinal cord injury. He discovered Para-cycling through handcycling and quickly rose to prominence. He finished fifth in both the H2 time trial and road race at the Tokyo Paralympics and continued to excel in 2023 with two world cup medals. At last year’s Super Worlds in Glasgow, he placed fourth in the time trial and fifth in the road race.
In Paris, he narrowly missed the podium again, finishing just outside medal contention in the Paralympic road race.
Mead is the first New Zealander in action in Belgium, tackling the 13km MH2 time trial along the Ostend coast overnight Friday (NZT). He’ll return to compete in the 46.6km road race on Saturday evening.
Fellow Kiwi Nicole Murray from Waikato is also competing in the event. The decorated track cyclist and Tokyo Paralympic medalist will race in the WC5 category, with her time trial on Friday and road race on Sunday.
