Roulston, Spessot among field for Tour of Southland

[1] Chris Henderson
Otago will field several quality cyclists in this year's Tour of Southland which begins at the end of this month. But some big names will not be lining up.

Grand tour competitor Greg Henderson, originally from Dunedin, will not be competing in this year's tour.

Henderson recently signed with European team Omega Pharma-lotto and will be leading out sprinter Andre Greipel next year.

Cycling Otago president Chris Henderson said there would be 18 teams racing the tour this year. Last year, there were 22.

Henderson said it may have come down to funding.

"There's a few that haven't had the sponsorship," he said.

Dunedin riders Mark Spessot and Joseph Chapman will be fronting up, and with a number of tours between them they know the course well.

Patrick Jones (under-23) had been riding strongly this year and was looking forward to racing, Henderson said.

Justin Stott will be making his Tour of Southland debut and Brad Evans will be competing.

Last year's winner, Hayden Roulston, of Ashburton will be back to defend the title he won over Nelson's Jack Bauer.

Tour director Bruce Ross said plenty of strong teams had signed up. Team Calder Stewart looked good, as did Pure Black Racing, although Roman Van Uden will not race due to an injury and will be replaced by Shem Roger.

The course has some changes from last year with the addition of an individual time trial as the penultimate stage.

Stage eight from Te Anau to Crown Range has been lengthened to 179km.

Ross said the team time trial would be a chance for riders to make up time.

"We believe it's another opportunity to make up deficits," he said.

"There'll be teams that have a good time triallist among them."

Coming at the end of the tour, riders will need to be prepared for it.

"Riders will need to have some left in the tank."

The Crown Range stage would also be a challenging one and had often decided the tour, Henderson said.

Stage four, to Te Anau, passes over Blackmount, a long, demanding climb which could shake up the peleton.

"It can split it quite badly."

The weather has always been a factor, with previous tours demanding riders grit their teeth through snow, hail, rain and wind.

Ross said the challenging weather made for a better, more exciting tour.

"They [the riders] ask for the tougher weather."