Admiral Hill will sort the women from the girls

It was the Admiral Hill climb at Gladstone which sorted out the men from the boys in the Trust House Cycle Classic earlier this month and it promises to be a telling factor again in the NZCT women's cycle tour to be raced in the Wellington-Wairarapa region from today through until Sunday.
A quality field containing many current and past Olympic and world champions is contesting the women's tour which will spend two days in the Wairarapa.
Tomorrow will see them cover 110km in stage two from Martinborough to Masterton while Friday involves 125kms, including six hill climbs, the last of which is the 12kms climb up Admiral Hill. National teams from Australia, Japan, China, South Africa, Ukraine and New Zealand are riding the women's tour as well as professional teams from the United States, Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Belgium, Italy and Germany.
World-ranked number three rider and 2004 world champion Judith Arndt, who is the defending champion, will lead the charge for Team High Road of the United States. She will be joined by newly-crowned Australian road race champion Oenone Wood and Danish champion Linda Villumsen.
German Ina-Yoko Teutenberg has won multiple World Cup races and six stages of the women's Tour de France while Edita Pucinskaite of Lithuania is the 1999 world champion and comes into the event after winning a major Italian tour for the second successive year. Sweden's Susanne Ljungskog is a two-time world champion (2002 and 2003) and won last year's Tour de l'Aude in France and reigning Olympic champion Sara Carrigan of Australia is part of the Belgium-based Lotto-Belisol team.
Other overseas riders of note include 2006 world time trial champion Kristin Armstrong of the United States and 2005 time trial world champ Karin Thurig from Switzerland will line up with New Zealand's top hope Joanne Kiesanowski for the Cervelo-Lifeforce team. Representing Australia will be their national team made up of 2007 time trial champion Bridie O'Donnell, 2006 pursuit national champion Peta Mullens and 2004 world junior points race and 2007 Oceania champion Amanda Spratt.