For Wānaka mountainbiker Kalani Muirhead, 2022 is the year she will finally achieve her dream of travelling to Europe to compete in the UCI Downhill World Cup and a slew of other major competitions.

Kalani (18) has wanted to compete in Europe for a long time, but for the past two years COVID-19 has been a stumbling block. 

Stuck at home over the last year, she has achieved respectable results in national competitions, including second overall at the National Round and fourth at the National Championships.

The first stop will be Leogang in Austria for the UCI Downhill World Cup. This will be Kalani’s first time competing in a World Cup event. 

“My main goal for the World Cup is just to qualify,” Kalani said. 

“Only 15 women qualify out of about 35 who enter, so it’s quite nerve-racking.”

After Leogang Kalani will compete at Crankworx in Innsbruck before the Enduro World Series (EWS) event in Italy.

Kalani in action PHOTO: James Bennett

Kalani qualified for the EWS at the Three Peaks Enduro, which is one of New Zealand’s three EWS qualifier races. 

“It’s quite physical just to get around the course,” Kalani said. “My goal is just to complete the Enduro at this stage.”

After this, Kalani said there were “loads more” UCI Downhill events she could compete in, and she had two in particular in her sights - at Lenzerheide in Switzerland and Vallnord Pal Arinsal in Andorra.

Packing and getting around were going to be a challenge, Kalani said, as she would be travelling with two bikes. 

“You really have to bring all the parts that you might possibly need, because it can be difficult to find the parts over there, so you’ve got to think about what you’ll do if this part or that part breaks,” she said.

Kalani will travel some of the way around Europe with James and William McDermott, also from Wānaka, who will compete in many of the same events. 

“My big goal for the summer is to get into the New Zealand World Championships team,” Kalani said. 

“And in terms of major future goals, I would love to one day get into a factory team and get paid to race. That’s the ultimate goal for me.”

In Europe, Kalani will compete as part of the team YD Racing which is made up of members of the New Zealand Youth Development programme.

Kalani will leave New Zealand on May 30 to catch the start of the European summer, returning home on September 10.