CYCLING

JLT Condor return to contest New Zealand Cycle Classic

By NZ Cycle Classic

JLT Condor, a registered Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Continental team from the United Kingdom, will return to the Wairarapa next week to contest the New Zealand Cycle Classic.

Team manager John Herety, a former British road racing champion, is looking forward to bringing his team, which includes triple Olympic track gold medallist Ed Clancy, back to New Zealand to contest the UCI 2.2 five-stage Cycle Classic which begins on Sunday, 22 nd January with a 121km stage from Masterton to the spectacular coastal community of Castlepoint. Herety’s JLT Condor team has been in Australia for the last five weeks training and racing including winning the criterium series a week ago in Sydney.

“This will be the third time the team has come to the New Zealand Cycle Classic. It's a race we really like and is a great way for us to start our 2017 season,” says Herety.

“This year I'm pleased to announce we will be bringing triple Olympic track gold medallist Ed Clancy. Ed is taking a year away from his GB track commitments and will concentrate purely on the road for 2017. 

More than anything else he's looking forward to helping New Zealand's Alex Frame on the sprint stages of the race. The team’s GC (general classification) hopes will rest with Steve Lampier who has spent the last few months in New Zealand preparing for the European season. This Classic will be one of his main goals for 2017.”
 

Riding alongside Clancy, will be Jon McCarthy, Steve Lampier, Alistair Slater and New Zealander Alex Frame.

Born in Ireland, McCarthy moved to Australia aged eight and soon gained the attention of Cycling Australia. He’s a solid sprinter and demonstrated his potential in the elite ranks with a win at the Herald SunTour in 2014.

Experienced rider Steve Lampier is a talented climber and in 2016 finished 5th overall in the New Zealand Cycling Classic while Mould is a former British Cycling Academy rider, former European Madison U23 champion and 2013 National Madison champion. A native of South Wales, Mould was the man of the Tour Series helping the team to win nine rounds out of ten in 2016.

Slater is a talented young rider and is developing a reputation for making break-away moves in the bunch while Frame was part of the 2015 World Team Pursuit championship team and will be a formidable force on flat stages.

As well as confirming JLT Condor’s attendance, New Zealand Cycle Classic race director Jorge Sandoval also confirmed four more Australian teams will be taking part. These include Oliver's Real Food Racing and Cobra9 Interbuild Racing team who both attended the 2016 event while newcomers are the Van D’am Racing team and Mobious Future Racing team.

“Australian riders have a long tradition with our event and have won five of the last nine tours with all five winners signed up by top Pro tour teams a few weeks later,” says Sandoval. “We will have a total of five strong Australian teams in this month’s event plus the other UCI teams already announced. I am very excited. It could be any one’s race really. The first two hard days of racing will give us a better idea of who is going well to take the title,” Sandoval says.
 

The New Zealand Cycle Classic is a five-stage, elite international men’s road cycling race staged entirely in the Wairarapa. It is the only Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctioned race to be held in New Zealand in 2017.

It begins on Sunday, 22 nd January 2017, with a 121km stage taking riders from the Wairarapa’s biggest town of Masterton to the spectacular coastal community of Castlepoint. The following day riders will complete a 147km hilly route that finishes atop of the steep Admiral Hill in Gladstone, while stage three sees riders travel from Masterton to the wine village of Martinborough and then complete eight laps of an 8km circuit. Stage four is new and will see riders head south down SH2 travelling through all five of the Wairarapa’s characterful townships before concluding with a fast and furious finish near the Martinborough Square. The fifth and final stage is based just west of Masterton and will see riders complete a fast and furious 12 lap, 10km circuit.

Being held simultaneously is Huri Huri: Wairarapa’s Bike Festival which celebrates the Wairarapa’s bike-friendly roads, tracks and trails; the people that ride on them and the bikes they ride. The 2017 Festival (www.hurihuri.co.nz) has a variety of events and activities held across the region, catering to all levels of involvement in biking and to all ages. These include the Town to Tide multisport race; the Castlepoint Station family fun ride; Pedal for Parkinsons road cycle; mountainbike workshops and a kids programme.

For more information please visit www.cycletournz.com.