Cycling: Yates brothers head elite cast in windy Southland

A who's who of the country's best cyclists will descend on Southland from tomorrow for the New Zealand road championships.

Plenty of attention will centre on the talents of Hawkes Bay brother act Matthew and Jeremy Yates, who start hot off a win in the Palmerston North-to-Wellington classic last weekend.

Though the pair are no strangers to controversy, they do their best work from their bike seats and have come off a hard season of racing in Europe.

Jeremy, who finished second at the weekend, is a former junior world champion and winner of the junior classification in the PowerNet Tour of Southland, while Matthew won the 141km race along with eight events in Europe.

The brothers will team up again during the annual Southland Tour, which comes a week after the road nationals.

Championship manager Nick Harris said the event had attracted excellent numbers and an even better standard, particularly in the senior women's section where only Commonwealth Games gold medallist Sarah Ulmer is missing among New Zealand's elite.

A total of 360 riders will be involved in the four-day championships, an increase on last year's event staged in Napier.

With Southland dishing up some traditionally tricky winds during October, Harris does not expect to see any great times recorded on the Seaward Downs course.

"The winds will be quite difficult and it will suit the stronger riders. It's going to be a real challenge for the competitors."

The racing starts tomorrow morning with the time trial events ranging from the under-17 junior riders to the senior men and women.

Defending champion Gordon McAuley, one of the strongest riders in the country, and Hayden Godfrey are expected to star in the time trial section.

The focus switches to junior road racing on Friday and local interest will ride with the under-17 division where Southland will be represented by a strong group of young riders.

On Saturday it's the turn of the veteran riders and the elite women, who include New Zealand representatives Joanne Kiesanowski, Melissa Holt and Susie Pryde.

Sunday sees the elite riders hit the tarmac. Ten laps of the Seaward Downs circuit - a total of 195km - should be enough to sort out the pretenders from the contenders.

As well as the Yates brothers, Timaru's Mark Ryan, Aucklander Chris Borson and Jason Allen will be among the frontrunners.

- NZPA