Pro Tour stars to line up at road cycling world championships

New Zealand’s trio of Pro Tour cycling stars BikeNZ will form potentially the best ever BikeNZ line-up when they contest next month’s UCI World Road Championships in Melbourne.

The three-strong men’s team, announced today by BikeNZ, consists of Julian Dean (Garmin Transitions), Hayden Roulston (HTC Colombia) and Greg Henderson (Team Sky).

They will contest the men’s road race in Melbourne on Sunday 3 October over a 263km course consisting of an initial 80km trek from the start at Federation Square in downtown Melbourne to Geelong, where they will then complete 11 laps of a 16km circuit with two short but telling climbs on each lap.

“It’s exciting that we can go to a world championship with three men who are all now established Pro Tour riders with success under their belt at the highest levels of the sport,” said BikeNZ Road Programme Sporting Director, Andy Reid.

BikeNZ has initially named a squad of six riders to prepare for the championships, to cover potential injuries.

“Both Julian and Hayden had injuries on the Vuelta a Espana. Julian is fine and has already gone up to his altitude training base and is working very hard on final preparations.

“Hayden has had a few days rest and his knee has responded well to treatment at this stage and he is really happy with his form at the Vuelta.

“And of course Greg is on fire winning a stage so far on the Tour of Britain and still challenging for the general classification too.”

Commonwealth Games rider Gordon McCauley (Auckland) and US-based Jeremy Vennell will compete in the men’s time trial.

Vennell and national road champion Jack Bauer (Nelson) are the reserves for the men’s road team.

The women’s team is led by HTC Colombia pro rider Linda Villumsen and new US National Series champion Cath Cheatley in a six-strong combination.

The Under-23 men and elite women compete in the time trial takes in Geelong on Wednesday 29 September and the elite men on Thursday 30 September.

The under 23-men’s road race over 10 laps of the 16km circuit is on Friday 1 October, the women over eight laps on Saturday 2 October and the men over 263km on Sunday 3 October.

The final BikeNZ teams are:
Elite men: Julian Dean (Rotorua), Hayden Roulston (Christchurch), Greg Henderson (Melbourne). Reserve: Jeremy Vennell (Hawkes Bay), Jack Bauer (Nelson, non-travelling)
Time Trial: Gordon McCauley (Auckland), Vennell.
Elite women: Cath Cheatley (Wanganui), Linda Villumsen (Auckland), Toni Bradshaw (Counties Manukau), Serena Sheridan (Hawkes Bay), Emma Crum (Auckland), Courteney Lowe (Tauranga).
Time trial: Melissa Holt (Cambridge), Villumsen.

Under-23: Michael Vink (Christchurch), Jason Christie (Ashburton), George Bennett (Nelson). Reserves: Shem Rodger (Cambridge), James Williamson (Alexandra, non-travelling).
Time Trial: Vink, Rodger.