Headline acts Georgia Baker (Northern Districts) and Amy Cure (Mersey Valley) head to Brisbane from world cup competitions in Colombia and the US.

They will join North-West quartet Macey Stewart, Morgan Gillon, Renee Dykstra and Amalia Langham plus under-19 men Josh Duffy, Brodie Graesser, Oscar Davie and Zack Gilmore, all of Launceston City, and Hobart Wheelers’ Ainsleigh Gray.

Tasmanian Institute of Sport coach Matthew Gilmore has high hopes at the Anna Meares Velodrome from Thursday to Sunday.

“The team has come a long way,” he said. “One of the good things this year is that normally it’s quite a scramble after the carnivals to put some meaningful preparation together but, being a month later, we’ve been able to work on a lot.

“Josh’s form has been solid, so has Ainsleigh’s, and they’ve got a realistic chance to push into junior world squad selection. The same goes for Renee and Morgan. They’ve learned a lot from previous campaigns at Oceania and omnium championships where they were among the top five or six girls in Australia and so are very competitive.

“For Oscar, Brodie and Zack it’s a chance to gain experience. For Zack it’s all about getting him back and testing what he’s like at under-19 national level.”

After a whirlwind tour of the Pacific Ocean, Baker and Cure bring proven pedigree to the team, but Gilmore said the Australian teammates represent so much more.

“Georgia and Amy don’t come in as Olympians, they still just come in as Georgia and Amy and contribute so much to the team,” he said.

“A good example was one day at the omnium nationals I was a bit short-handed so both pitched in and helped. No job is too big or small to them. They are great team members.”

Two months after plotting her return to elite competition, Gilmore said Stewart needed convincing to take part in nationals.

“There was a lot of debate involved in getting Macey in the team, mainly from Macey,” he said.

“I said if we are going to work together you will be going. High performance sport is not about avoiding things so I see a chance to use this as a benchmark of where she is at and where we need to work from that point.

“I’m confident she will hold her own.”

A junior world champion on both track and road, Stewart had a year away from competition but, after turning 21 in January, is both excited and apprehensive about her comeback.

“I’m nervous about the outcome which is a bit of fear of the unknown in terms of where I’m at,” she said.

Expecting to race the points, scratch and possibly individual pursuit races, Stewart aspires to joining Baker and Cure on the ultimate stage.

“Tokyo 2020 is my number one goal.

“I’ll be a good age by then and have a lot of time to prepare so it is a realistic goal and it’s exciting to see what I can do.”

The saga of airlines losing bikes between Colombia and the US taught Cycling Australia a valuable lesson.

“Effectively, we have lost 10 days and in hindsight we would not have done those world cups,” Gilmore said.

“We would have stayed home or send a different team to each of the world cups which is what New Zealand did. It would have been nice to utilise that time leading into world champs in Hong Kong.”

Gilmore, whose coaching roles span both the TIS and CA, said the drama, which meant the women’s team pursuit was unable to compete in Los Angeles, was extremely frustrating for riders and coaches.

Tasmania’s under-19 boys are being entrusted with maintaining the state’s proud record in national team pursuits.

The 11th-hour arrival of the jet-lagged Cure and Baker means they will not contest the event which they have twice won at nationals, both times with Stewart and Lauren Perry.

“We’ve got Macey, Georgia and Amy and could have had an under-19 in Morgan or Renee, but considering the two girls are only arriving the day before, I chatted to the national head coach and thought it was just too much for them,” Gilmore said.

Stewart, who retains fond memories of the 2014 and ’15 successes, added: “It’s a bit disappointing because it would have been fun, but maybe next year.”

Gilmore was pleased to have sufficient depth in the under-19 boys to enter the team pursuit.

“We have not been able to field one for many years,” he said. “Hopefully, we can qualify and get a second ride so the intention would be, depending on form, for all five boys to get a ride.”

Gilmore observed positives and negatives from Tasmania’s performance at the junior national track titles in Sydney.

“There were a lot of encouraging results, shown in how many PBs there were,” he said.

“Ryan Lawson’s results were very encouraging and it’s the first time in a long time that we’ve had a sprint athlete rather than endurance so hopefully that inspires a few more to go down that path.”

However, he added: “The depth in our state raises some questions. It would be nice to have more numbers, which is something Cycling Tasmania and the TIS need to address.”