Four days of 2011 BDO Tour of Northland beckons cyclists

After last year's little taster, Whangarei cyclist Matthew Markby has decided to give the 2011 BDO Tour of Northland a crack on the back of a successful summer racing.
"I rode in two days of the tour last year with the elite division and I thought it was about time to do all four days," the 17-year-old said.
Markby will line up with around 40 elite riders for stage one of the tour tomorrow at Tikipunga Sports Park, before heading west, destined for Dargaville.
He is riding for Avanti Plus Whangarei along with the Mangawhai-based Tom Andrews in the elite division, and said the teammates would support each other - depending who looked strongest over the four days. Youngster Ben Johnstone will join them to ride in the final two days of the tour, while the rest of the team were spread across the other divisions, Markby added.
"I have a bit of a cold and a lingering cough - so I will be there but hopefully I will be better by the start of it.
"Fighting fit, I will go for the fastest Northlander title or I will help out my teammate Tom depending on which one of us is in a better position," he said.
A product of the Marsden Wheelers junior cycling programme, Markby only began riding in May 2009, after his dad encouraged him to take part in the Northland Secondary Schools Road Race.
"I jumped on a bike and found it was quite addictive."
Over the past two and a half years, Markby put in the hard yards, and is now shaping up to be one of the strong local chances in this year's tour, said organiser Stephen Cox.
Markby most recently contested the seven-day, 13 stage Lion Foundation Wellington to Auckland Cycle Challenge and impressed Cox, a former New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games cycling representative. "I am a hard man to impress but I thought young Matthew Markby showed a lot of potential during the Wellington to Auckland race," Cox said.
Markby even surprised himself with his second overall in the Under-30 age group, ninth in the sprint race and a stage win on the final leg. "I went really well and did much better than I expected," the ex-Whangarei Boys High School student said.
Life is much busier now Markby has started a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Auckland but he still managed to clock up several 19 hour plus weeks on the bike ahead of the Tour of Northland.
On day one starting at Tikipunga from 10am tomorrow (Thursday), cyclists will ride the 92km from the Sports Park to Dargaville. Following the Northland Tour, Markby said his major aim is success at next month's Junior Tour of Te Awamutu.