Five-time Paralympic gold medallist Modra heads Australian team for Para-cycling World Championships

By Gary Anderson

January 17 - Five-time Paralympic gold medallist Kieran Modra will lead the 15-strong team named by Cycling Australia for the upcoming International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-cycling World Track Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Modra, who has five Paralympic gold medals in individual pursuit and sprint tandem events, will partner former Australian sprinter Jason Niblett in the tandem sprint and time trial competitions in Aguascalientes, after the duo took two golds at the recent Australian National Championships in Melbourne.

The 41-year-old, who has two swimming bronze medals from Barcelona 1992, took the individual pursuit B title at London 2012 with Scott McPhee in a world record time of 4min 17.756sec and is joined on the Australian squad by fellow Paralympic champions David Nicholas, Michael Gallagher, Sue Powell and Felicity Johnson.

Nicholas, Gallagher and Johnson - who will be partnered by Australian national champion Holly Takos in the tandem time trial - are reigning world champions and they will be joined by Alex Green and Simone Kennedy who also claimed World Championship gold last time out in Carson.

Jayme Richardson, Alistair Donohue, Matt Formston, Michael Curran, Paul Kennedy and Tom Clarke have also been named to the squad that will be competing at the Bicentenary Velodrome from April 10 to 13.

Reigning Paralympic and world champion Michael Gallagher will be looking to add more gold to his collection at the Bicentenary Velodrome in April ©Getty Images

"We are obviously really pleased that the Para-Cycling World Championships have been announced for Mexico," said Para-cycling performance director at Cycling Australia and head coach Peter Day.