Pro teams on track for race

CAN'T WAIT:Tom Davison shows his cycling skills during a triathlon event, and is looking forward to his first international race.PHOTO/FILE

Top professional teams are releasing their line ups for New Zealand's premier cycle race and only UCI 2.2 sanctioned event in Oceania, the NZCT Cycle Classic, to be held in Manawatu and Wairarapa next month.

Avanti Racing Team is the first to announce their squad and they are presenting a strong team, including retired Christchurch triathlete Tom Davison who will have his first serious cycling test in this particular event.

Davison has represented New Zealand in triathlons at world championships and Commonwealth Games, and decided after five years as a professional in that sport to concentrate on road cycling. He first came to the attention of Avanti Racing Team manager Andrew Christie-Johnston when he placed third in the 2014 New Zealand national road championships behind pro tour riders Hayden Roulston and Jack Bauer.

"We're happy to have Tom. He has great natural talent and clearly has the desire to succeed," Christie-Johnston said.

Davison is looking forward to his first international race.

"I'm really looking forward to the race as lots of my mates have been and have had some good things to say about the tour. This will be my first UCI tour, first NZCC also, so I'm pretty excited to be coming and getting stuck in, our team will be strong and ready to tackle the event.

"My switch has been smooth thus far. Initially I was of course worried about finding teams but I was lucky enough being picked up by Avanti for the 2015 season. Now I just have to keep improving my riding ability," Davison said.

Race organiser Jorge Sandoval is happy to see Davison come to cycling.

"I watched him doing the triathlons, I could not believe how strong he was on the bike leg. It is great to see him going to one of the best UCI teams, he couldn't go to a better team. Andrew Christie-Johnson has produced some of the best talent over the past few years in Australia with riders such as Nathan Earle, Richie Porte, Campbell Flakemore and Steele Von Hoff among others, all of them now riding for pro teams."

Sandoval said it would be interesting to see how Davison coped with the formidable opposition in the January tour but he said he would have the benefit of experienced teammates around him, names like Australia national series and Oceania time trial champion Joe Cooper as well as Patrick Bevin, 2013 stage winner Jason Christie, the talented Fraser Gough and current New Zealand time trial champion Taylor Gunman. "This could be his launch pad as far as international cycling is concerned, I think he will go really well," Sandoval said of Davison.

The 2015 tour will begin with an individual time trial starting and finishing at the Manawatu Golf Course. Over the next three days, riders will race around the region with stages to Apiti, Feilding and Pahiatua.

The tour is set for an epic finish - stage five on the last day of racing will be crucial to decide the overall winner. This stage will take the field from Palmerston North to the Wairarapa region, returning the same way.