CYCLING

Bauer to lead New Zealand team to world championships

By CyclingNZ

New Zealand cyclist Jack Bauer, fresh from his stage win on the Tour of Britain, has been named to lead the national team at next month’s UCI Road World Championships in Qatar.
 
Bauer, who rides for the Cannondale Drapac World Tour team, will lead a group of young riders at the championships to be staged at the later date of 9-16 October to cope with the heat in the region.
 
He will be joined by 25-year-old Cannondale Drapac teammate Patrick Bevin (Taupo) and 23-year-old Dion Smith (Auckland).
 
Smith is currently competing in the Tour of Britain for his One Pro Cycling Pro Continental team, while Bevin is competing in his first Grand Tour in the Vuelta a Espana.
 
Smith, the 2015 rider of the year, has been in excellent form this year including fifth on general classification at the Tour of Dunkurque, a top-10 overall in the Cadel Evans event and on the podium at the Herald Sun Tour.
 

Bevin has been thrown in the deep end in his first year on the World Tour, finishing third in the young rider category in the Tour Down Under, third in the prologue at the famed Paris-Nice, and competed in the Tour of California, the Tour of Switzerland and currently in the Vuelta.
 
“We thought it an ideal time to look to the future and of course the unique conditions in Doha were a factor,” said Cycling New Zealand selector Graeme Hunn. “The Doha course is completely flat, with a lot of corners, expected crosswinds and high temperatures.
 
“All three riders can cope with this and can either act in support roles or equally be competitive in a breakaway or sprint finish.”
 
The men’s under-23 team is headed by Smith’s One Pro Cycling teammate Hayden McCormick, national under-23 champion Hamish Schreurs and first-year professional Sam Dobbs, who rides for the BMC Development team in Europe.
 
Schreurs, a trainee with World Tour team Etixx Quickstep, is currently recovering from a wrist injury and will need a medical clearance to compete.
 
World time trial champion Linda Villumsen will not defend her title, with the need to recover from a major Olympic campaign in order to re-focus on 2017.
 
“The Olympic campaign involved many of our leading female riders and has left us thin on the ground in terms of riders competing at the highest level of competition required for a world championship campaign.”
 
Bauer, Bevin, Dobbs and McCormick will compete in both the road race and time trial, with Smith and Schreurs only the road race.