Marshall now works with the Illawarra Cycling Club and Cycling NSW as a discipline coach, but he also spent time riding and coaching for the Bathurst Cycling Club.

It means he is keen to support his former club and will be at the Bathurst Velodrome on Saturday to both compete and watch a host of talented riders in action.

“The Bathurst Cycling Club are a great bunch of people,” he said.

“Bathurst is a great place to ride, great place to live and great place to come back and visit. 

“It’s great to come back and support the open, we’ve been coming since the first carnival and I think a reflection of what a good event it is, is the very high quality of the fields.

“You’ve got Australian representatives and riders who have represented their state … you’ve a guy like Cam Scott from the high performance unit and Kaarle McCulloch, she’s one of the best sprinters in the world.”

While Marshall will race in division four, he is more excited by the prospect of watching the men’s division one action.

The field will feature a host of talented teenagers including his son Zac, ACT Academy of Sport rider Matt Rice, national road and track champion Kurt Eather, Tom Lynch, and a member of Australia’s Junior World Championships team in Stephen Cuff.

Then there is the likes of Cameron Scott, his brother Lachlan Scott, one of Bathurst’s finest in Harrison Carter, and Mudgee’s Ayden Toovey, who earlier this year rode as a stagiaire for Trek-Segafredo.

“Division one has got one of the highest quality fields that you’re going to see. It’s probably the best New South Wales track field you’ll see outside of Sydney,” Marshall said.

“A majority of the riders in division one have represented New South Wales and there’s riders who have even represented Australia. It means that the field in division two is a quality one as well.

“With the Oceania Track Championships coming up soon, it will be held in New Zealand at Cambridge, a lot of the riders who are coming to Bathurst will be using it as a tune up.”

As for his son Zac, Marshall is hoping to see him defend the Bathurst Track Open men’s wheelrace crown he won last year.

Given the form of the 17-year-old, he may very well do just that.

“He’s had a really good year, he’s featured in a couple of major opens in New South Wales. Last week he won the Golden Wheel in Wagga,” Marshall said of his son.

“He came second in the Austral, which is the best wheelrace in Australia, it has been around for about a 100 years, he got beaten in that by Steve Cuff.

“He’s always loved Bathurst, he’s got a soft spot for Bathurst. He loves going to race there, he rode in the gold wave at the B2B [Blayney to Bathurst] earlier this year.”

Senior racing at the Bathurst Track Open will commence at 2pm on Saturday while the action at the velodrome begins with the junior races from noon.

Spectators are welcome.