Cycling: Ulmer to show mettle on road

Sarah Ulmer's performances will be a gauge of her progress since switching to the road. Picture / Hawkes Bay Today

All eyes will be on Sarah Ulmer when the national road cycling championships begin at Ashhurst, near Palmerston North, today.

But defending women's road champion Catherine Sell feels anyone in the national women's team who campaigned in Europe this year from their southern France base at Limoux can win.

Along with Ulmer, Melissa Holt, Tammy Boyd, Toni Bradshaw, Johanna Buick, Michelle Hyland, Michelle Kiesanowski and Dale Tye all had experience training and competing in Europe this year.

But Sell said the absence of New Zealand No 1 Joanne Kiesanowski, who has a world road ranking of 23, might make things easier in Saturday's road race.

Sell, who at 79th in the world road rankings, on the strength of her win in the Tour of New Zealand, has remained home all year, with her preparations focused on making the Melbourne Commonwealth Games track team next year.

"I've mostly been training in Wanganui with coach Ron Cheatley - and hopefully will have a good ride this weekend as I build up for the Oceania track championships in Wanganui next month."

Sell will contest the scratch and points race in the Oceania meet.

"The road hasn't been my focus this year - I have been concentrating on qualifying for the Commonwealth Games on the track - but I'm keen on defending my title and will give it heaps," said Sell, adding that familiarity with the course was handy for her.

She also plans to have a crack at the 25km time trial today, after missing it last year.

"I have not been training specifically for it, but all the work I've done crosses over into it."

Her rivals will do well to remember Sell's Tour of New Zealand win in March.

She rode a brilliantly judged time trial over 12km to take the overall win by one second, against a strong international field from 15 countries.

For Ulmer, the next few days present her with a chance to gauge her progress after making the switch to road racing.

Illness forced her to miss the world championships in Madrid this year and, with it, her planned time trial debut.

She said she would use the nationals as a stepping stone to the Oceania championships, after which she expected to have a firm idea of her progress in her new discipline.

Some of the gloss for the men's time trial and road competitions today and Sunday, respectively, has been lost as leading riders such as Julian Dean, Hayden Roulston, Peter Latham and Heath Blackgrove, who won both events last year, take breaks.

- NZPA