Cycling: Strong international tour field

Next week's Tour of Wellington cycle race has attracted a strong international field.

Seventy-five riders have turned the race into a who's who of international cycling.

The tour starts in Wellington on Tuesday with a 2.5km individual time trial around the waterfront.

However, a clash of dates has robbed the event of some of New Zealand's best riders.

Graeme Miller, who last weekend won the final stage of the Tour Down Under in South Australia, is among a strong group representing New Zealand in the Tour of Malaysia.

Miller, Glen Mitchell, David Lee, Neil Cleghorn, Chris Barnsley and Karl Murray will compete in the race, from February 3 to 14, which cuts across the Wellington event.

The Wellington tour line-up include: Italian team Amore and Vita, with strong riders Maurizio de Pasquale and Roberto Gaggilly; Collstrop, from Belgium, with Franke van Hasebroucke, Hans Redant and Christof Bracke; the Czech Republic team, with a three-times winner of the Czech Cup and winner of the tour of Poland, Petr Pucelik, and the 1998 under-23 Czech champion Jindrich Vana; and Synergy USA, a newly formed team including top Dutch sprinter Harm Jansen, American Chad Gerlach and 1995 United States national champion David McCook.

National teams from Hong Kong, China Taipei and New Zealand, an Australian Institute of Sport team and a composite New Zealand team riding under the Giant banner will also compete.

The Hong Kong team include top hill climber and winner of the king of the mountains in the Sun tour of Australia, Wong Kam Po. He is expected to be a considerable force on the tough hill climbs in Wellington, over the Rimutakas and on Hawkins Hill.

The composite Giant team are headed by New Zealand national champion and Tour of Southland winner Scott Guyton and include Commonwealth Games gold medallist Glen Thomson and US Postal professional rider Julian Dean.

Tour promoter Jorge Sandoval said the overseas teams were all coming direct from their home countries and would have up to six days' preparation in Wellington.

He said: "In the past the overseas teams who have participated in New Zealand races have done so after a gruelling series of races in Australia and Hawaii." - NZPA