Media releases

Athletes and performance coaches participating in the Federation University Road Nationals will benefit from world-renowned Sport Science expertise through a series of virtual seminars that will be co-hosted by AusCycling and Federation University Australia.

The sessions will cover performance-related subjects that will be delivered by various experts, including members of Federation’s Exercise and Sport Science discipline within the University’s Institute of Health & Wellbeing.

Federation’s Sport Science discipline is widely acclaimed and is ranked in the top 100 globally, as assessed by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. A recent joint report from Stanford University and Elsevier also revealed that two Federation University Australia researchers are in the top 1.5 per cent globally in the Sport Science discipline in terms of total citations in 2021.

The virtual conferences will allow attendees to tap into this world-class expertise that is aimed at educating cycling coaches, athletes and parents on preparing for the physical rigour of the sport.

The sessions, listed below, will be hosted online from 1800-1900 AEST on January 9 and 10, further details and links to register for the seminars can be found on the RoadNats website.

“More Than a Metric: Using Principles of Training to Improve Performance” - Professor Tim Gabbett.

Professor Tim Gabbett has more than 25 years of experience working as an applied sport scientist with athletes and coaches from a wide range of sports. Tim holds a PhD in Human Physiology and has completed a second PhD in Applied Sport Science, and presently holds a position as Professor at Federation University Australia.

Tim has worked with elite international athletes over several Olympic Games cycles and continues to work as an advisor for several high-performance organizations around the world.  In a recent study of 8 million scientists published in PLoS Biology, Tim was named in the Top 25 most impactful sports scientists of all time.

“Insights into optimising Para-cycling performance from the lab to the podium” - Nick Owen and Dr Ryan Worn

Nick Owen is a high-performance sports scientist and cycling coach with successful experience in preparing athletes for international one-day races and Grand Tours - including the Tour de France - as well as successfully preparing riders for Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and Olympic Games in both able-bodied and para-athlete categories.

Dr Ryan Worn is a lecturer in exercise and sport science at Federation University, specialising in high-performance athlete physiology and biomechanics. Ryan is an active racing cyclist and an active cycling coach with success coaching athletes to a national level, including representation at world championships in road, track and BMX cycling.

“Challenging existing ways of thinking and practice to optimise physical preparation in elite athletes” - Dr Lynne Munro

Dr Lynne Munro has developed the foundations of successful practice, leading national teams and athletes to world championship winning performances. Presently, Lynne is the National Sprint coach (Phased Planning and Physical Preparation, Interim) for the Australian cycling team, and was previously the Head of the Olympic Fast Track Program.

“Physical preparation practices for elite sprint cycling athletes; from theory to practice” - Dr Toby Edwards

Dr Toby Edwards has extensive experience providing strength and conditioning support to National, International, and Olympic athletes in Australia and the United States across several sports. Toby is the full-time Strength and Power Scientist for the Australian track sprint cycling team.  

In addition to these virtual conferences, Federation will also be running a community engagement program on site during the Road Nationals and will feature a live demonstration of a VO₂ max session and other tests of physical performance related to cycling.

Quotes attributable to Federation University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Duncan Bentley

“Federation is recognised as one of the top 100 universities globally in the Sport Science discipline, and we are proud to be able to share our expertise with elite athletes, performance coaches and interested members of the public during this year’s Road Nationals.

“Our expert lecturers and scientists working within our state-of-the-art Health and Sports Precinct are at the forefront of their respective disciplines. Not only do they ensure that our current and prospective students have access to their world-class levels of knowledge, they also provide expert advice and support to elite athletes regionally, nationally, and around the globe.”