BikeNZ have introduced a national points championships which takes in 11 of the country's major one-day road cycling events.
It begins with the Pro-Velo Auckland 1000 event near Pukekohe this Saturday and ends with the Around Brunner cycle ride in April next year.
BikeNZ hopes it will provide
an incentive for many of its leading riders to take part in a number of the events, already popular as mass events.
"We have a number of public participation cycling events around New Zealand which have been growing significantly and provide a great experience for the increasing number of Kiwis who have taken up the sport, either on a serious basis or as a means to remain active," BikeNZ chief executive Roger Thompson said.
"They are privately organised and all are extremely well run and increasingly popular.
"We felt that our initiative, working in with the organisers of the various events, will provide an opportunity for elite cyclists to compete in a well-structured nationwide series and also help raise the profile for the riders and the events.
"We hope this will develop into a series that will become a ranking system for our leading riders and a benchmark for their development through our high performance programme."
Thompson said although the country's leading professionals and juniors are currently competing overseas, he expected several will compete in some of the other rounds of the series.
* National series
July 27 - Auckland 1000, Karaka, 118km men, 71km women
September 21 - Taupo-Napier Classic, Napier-Taupo, 138km
October 4 - Round Mountain Race, Taranaki, 160km approx.
November 1 - K2, Coromandel, 192km men, 106km women
November 29 - Taupo Classic, Taupo, 160km criterium women
December 6 - Harbour Ride, Christchurch, 75km
December 13 - Rice Mountain Classic, Wairarapa, 93km men, 65km women
January 25 - Cycle Challenge, Taranaki, 150km
February 21 - Rev 120, Waikato, 120km
April 11 - Graperide, Marlborough, 101km
April 18 - Around Brunner Ride, Greymouth, 130km
- NZPA
