Cycling: Veterans to hit the road

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The Tour of Southland, first held in 1956 and New Zealand's most enduring tour, will be staged for the 45th time next week.

It will, however, be more than a simple battle to find the winner.

Alongside the Powernet-sponsored six-day tour is the formal launch of the "Share the Roads" campaign, aimed at increasing awareness of the need for safety and understanding on the road.

The campaign is being promoted initially in the deep south, and follows the death of two young cyclists.

Invercargill student Amanda Hurring was killed on her way to Southland Polytechnic this year.

Her death was followed in Dunedin by an accident which cost 21-year-old James Faulding his life.

The son of prominent New Zealand triathlete and triathlon organiser Rick Faulding, James was regarded among this country's most promising riders, and was training for a second tilt at the Tour of Southland when he was killed.

Determined to lend their support to the campaign, a team of veteran cyclists headed by former New Zealand representatives Paul Leitch and Rick Dalton, who have come out of retirement, has been brought together to ride in the southern tour and later races.

Race organiser Bruce Ross welcomes the team of Leitch, Dalton, Peter Hayward, John Alabaster and Geoff Keogh.

"They have been working hard and are obviously coming here to race," Ross said.

"They are determined they won't be last.

"More importantly, they are here to spread the Share the Roads message which we will be taking to schools along the race route."

Two evergreens, Graeme Miller, a two-time winner, and Brian Fowler, who with eight victories has ruled the roads for years, will be back.

Miller is joined in his team by United States professionals Chris Horner, who won this year's Tour of Langkawi, and John Lieswyn, who won the opening stage of this year's Sun Tour in Australia, top young Australian Hilton Clark and Canadian Eric Wohlberg, who like Miller, has won Commonwealth Games gold.

An all-Kiwi team headed by Glen Mitchell, Tim Carswell and Scott Guyton shapes as one of the better hopes, while Fowler will have Hayden Godfrey among his team-mates.

The 12-stage race starts at midday on Monday with the Invercargill criterium, followed by the testing 70km stage which ends with the climb up the infamous Bluff Hill.

Later, the race takes in much of Southland, including a tough stage up the Crown Range and time in Queenstown and Te Anau before the survivors among the 75 starters finish back in Invercargill tomorrow week.