Cycle tour plaudits for Wairarapa

UP THEY GO: A big bunch of riders go hill climbing on stage four.

If you ever want confirmation of Wairarapa being the ideal cycling destination then ask the members of the United States national squad who dominated the action in the five-day Trust House Women's Cycle Tour of New Zealand last week taking the major team and individual honours.

All were lavish in their praise of what this province has to offer as a training and racing venue and were unanimous in their determination to return here, the sooner the better.

"I really do hope to come back. The organisation was great, it's a lovely place for cycling and the people are so friendly," said Tayler Wiles, whose time for the tour of 14hr 21min 57sec gave her a 6sec advantage over teammate Megan Guarnier for the overall honours with yet another of the United States line-up, defending champion Evelyn Stevens, just a further 6sec back in third place.

Stevens also said she was keen to continue her association with an event contested solely in Wairarapa.

"It's the perfect place for a tour. Its got flat, its got hills and everything is so close to town. Its got a lot going for it."

The final stage of the tour was from Masterton to Alfredton and return and while there were several attacks from various teams over the 122km, Wiles, who held the yellow jersey as tour leader, was always confident the US team would be equal to the challenge.

"Right through the tour, we operated really well as a team and today was no different. I always thought we had things pretty much under control," she said. "It was a team victory more than an individual. I just happened to be the one lucky enough to be in front. Two or three of the other girls could just as easily have won it as well."

The life of a professional cyclist is a busy one and, after returning to the US for a couple of days, Wiles will be off to Belgium to contest a tour there.

"If you asked me now what I'd rather be doing it is staying here, but we have to go where the racing is."

Runner-up Guarnier wore the yellow jersey on two of the five days and while third-placed Stevens didn't lead the general classification at any stage she was always among the front-runners.

"It didn't really matter which of us won as an individual, we wanted to dominate as a team and I think we managed to do that," Stevens said, adding that the big bonus for her was getting much-needed kilometres into her legs before another tough European season.

"It's just what I wanted in that respect, it's got me where I needed to be."

Queen of the Mountains winner Jo Hogan, another American, but riding for Team Tibco, said she was a "bit tired" going into the last stage after the gruelling stage four which included four hill climbs and finished at the top of the daunting Admiral's Hill. However, she was still one of the main attackers on the way to Alfredton. "I think I might have had too much caffeine before I started," she laughed.

The Sprint Ace title went to Kiwi Hannah van Kempen from the Ramblers team. She said she owed plenty to her teammates, who set her up well for the various sprints.

"They got me into the right places at the right time," she said.

The winner of the under-23 title was Australian Ellen Skerritt from the HI5 Dream Team. This was her first time competing in a tour of this magnitude and she said the experience of watching so many world-class riders go about their work at such close range was huge in terms of experience.