PureBlack to race in Sunny King Criterium

PureBlack Racing will start in the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama this weekend, the first NRC Criterium event of the season. The race is a change in schedule for the team who were ready to race in the Vuelta a Mexico, which has now been delayed until later in the year.

Greg Cross, Business Director, PureBlack Racing said, “We were keen to race this weekend after such a strong showing at the Redlands Classic last weekend. We received an influx of invites as a result of our performance including this weekend’s Sunny King Criterium.”

PureBlack Racing turned in a top 5 team performance at the Redlands Bicycle Classic in California last weekend finishing fourth overall on Team General Classification. Roman van Uden had a spectacular win on the Criterium stage and also secured the Green Sprint Ace jersey for the tour.

Carl Williams, Sports Director, PureBlack Racing said, “We have a strong Criterium team this year, and most of our season consists of Stage racing, so it’s a great opportunity to race this style of event. The Sunny King Criterium will be a fast and furious race in front of hundreds of people and at night. Tim Gudsell will be wearing his Criterium National Championship Skin suit which sports a large Silver Fern alongside the Pure Black Avanti Logos. It’ll be pretty special to see Tim showing his country and team colours like that.”

The Sunny King Criterium runs April 9 and 10. The PureBlack Racing team heading to Alabama is Tim Gudsell, Daniel Barry, Mike Northey, Shem Rodger, Roman Van Uden and James Williamson. Six riders will start in the race. PureBlack will be racing Bissell, Fly V, Kelly Benefits, Kenda, Chipotle, Team Type 1, and the other continental teams.

Carl Williams said, “The race this weekend will allow us to keep the momentum going as we build up to the SRAM Tour of Gila in New Mexico at the end of the month. We still plan to race in the tour in Mexico as it always attracts a large international, we’ll add it to the schedule again as soon as a new date has been set. ”

The NRC Criterium on April 9 featuring PureBlack Racing will be streamed live via www.velonews.com/live and www.sunnykingcriterium.com at 7:30pm Central Standard Time.

“It’s great this weekend’s race is going to be streamed live on the internet. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our Kiwi fans, friends and family to get closer to the action and watch PureBlack Racing live in the United States,” said Carl Williams.

For more information on the team and racing schedule see www.pureblackracing.com