Kiwi cyclists in action around the globe this weekend

More than 25 New Zealand cyclists will be in action in major international competition on the road, BMX and Mountain Bike this weekend.

Fresh from success in the Netherlands last week by Christchurch road cyclist Michael Vink, the BikeNZ endurance track squad take on one of their biggest tests in the prestigious Thuringen Rhundfhart Under-23 international tour of Germany starting on Sunday (NZ time).

In the professional ranks, Hayden Roulston (Radioshack Leopard) and Sam Bewley (Orica GreenEdge) line-up in the Tour de Suisse, starting on Sunday while Jack Bauer (Garmin Sharp) completes the Criterium du Dauphine.

Across the Atlantic the BikeNZ High Performance squad compete in the USA BMX Nationals round in Utah as they prepare for next month’s UCI World Championships in Auckland.

Meanwhile in Scotland the downhill riders get their long-awaited start to the UCI Mountain Bile World Cup at Fort William with 15 Kiwis on the start list.

The BikeNZ endurance track squad, based in Belgium with a mix of road and track training and racing, enjoyed a standout success when Vink won the prestigious UCI 1.2 category Philippe Coningsloo Memorial in Belgium.

They move to Germany this weekend for the eight-day International Thuringen Rundfahrt under-23 tour. It has attracted national teams from Australia, Denmark, USA, Sweden, Great Britain, Russia, Austria and New Zealand along with development teams from many of the major professional teams.

Australia’s Rohan Dennis, currently starting in the Criterium de Dauphine World Pro Tour, was last year’s overall winner while other champions have included leading pros Tony Martin  and John Degenkolb.
Vink heads the line-up with Cameron Karwowski, Hamish Schreuers, Hayden McCormick and Pieter Bulling, with former Tour of Southland winner Josh Atkins (Bontrager Livestrong) joining the team.

“This is a very strong tour, one of the most prestigious for under-23 riders and exceptionally strong,” BikeNZ Coach Dayle Cheatley said. “It will serve them well as they prepare for upcoming track duties, while it’s great to have Josh Atkins join us, one of the young New Zealand road riders in Europe who have been invited into the track squad’s races.”

It marks the introduction of double Olympic medallist Marc Ryan to duties of assistant Director Sportif working with the experienced Dirk Van Hove for the tour.

“Obviously Marc can’t compete as it is under-23 and is taking the opportunity to build his skill set with a very experienced guy in Dirk Van Hove who has a huge background in the sport in Europe.”

The BMX squad had a solid first-up competition in Nashville last weekend, for many their first competitive racing for several months.

The Nationals series moves to South Jordan in Utah this weekend with racing on Sunday and Monday (NZ time).

The full squad will be competing led by Olympians Sarah Walker, Marc Willers and Kurt Pickard, the in-form Trent Jones, Daniel Franks and Matt Cameron. Pukekohe’s Trent Woodcock and Gisborne’s Nic Fox are also racing.

Many of the leading Americans are racing along with world champions Sam Willoughby (Australia), Joris Daudet (France) and Maris Strombergs (Latvia) in the men and Mariana Pajon (Colombia) and Caroline Buchanan (Australia) in the women.

“I was pleased with the first-up racing last weekend,” said BMX Coach Ryan Hollows. “They are all still in heavy training at this stage but this level of racing is important for our preparations.

“There are no big ramps in these competitions, and therefore the racing is fast and physical which is just what we need.”

Hollows said he expects further improvements from his riders over the next three weeks.

Perched in the Nevis range of the Scottish Highlands, Fort William is rated one of the best gravity tracks and ideal venue for the opening round for downhillers in the UCI World Cup.

It is a track where New Zealanders have performed strongly with world number six Brook MacDonald third two years ago, Christchurch’s Cameron Cole second in 2010 and Sam Blenkinsop third in 2009.

MacDonald and fellow Hawkes Bay rider George Brannigan, ranked eighth, have their first World Cup starts for Trek World Racing, Cole will debut for Yeti Fox Shox and Blenkinsop turns out again for Lapierre International.

“The track walk has been done yesterday and we are all hanging to get riding and that the World Cup Number One is finally here. Bring it on,” MacDonald said.

There are a stack of other Kiwis lining up with 12 men and three women in Veronique Sandler (Nelson), Sophie Tyas (Coatesville) and Alanna Columb (Queenstown) all in action.

There is training tomorrow, official seeding run and qualifying on Sunday and racing on Monday (NZ time).