World championship medallist Linda Villumsen won’t have time to blink before tomorrow’s NZCT Women’s Tour of New Zealand where she will ride for the BikeNZ national team.
The 25-year-old landed back in New Zealand today from Europe where she has been training with her new Dutch-based professional Team AA Drink-Leontinen.
The world time trial bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games silver medallist will join US-based road star Cath Cheatley in the New Zealand team for the UCI event that has attracted 14 teams.
There will no doubt be plenty of incentive for Villumsen who will take on her former team HTC Highroad who will be the hottest of favourites for the Tour.
They were one of the most successful teams in the world last year, picking up numerous titles and are headed by former world champion and Olympic medallist Judith Arndt, legendary sprinter Ina Teutenberg and other stars including Amanda Miller and Chloe Hosking.
The BikeNZ team is built around Villumsen and US national series champion Cheatley, who dominated the national road championships last month after finishing in the top-10 in December's world championships. She is building for a return to her Colavita-Baci team in the US next month.
The high profile pair will be supported by three developing riders including the talented Melanie Burke (Auckland), who has moved into road cycling after considerable success in rowing, running and duathlon.
The team is rounded out by young Aucklander Kate Chilcott, the Taupo Cycle Challenge winner, and Tauranga's Courtenay Lowe, a member of the team at the world championships.
"The team is built around Cath and Linda obviously," said team manager Andy Reid. "Melissa Holt dropped out of the team last week with illness so we only have five riders but the other three will be riding for Cath and Linda.
"It's a tough start tomorrow with a difficult stage and there's some very tough competition this week."
Tomorrow's first stage is a 95km ride from Martinborough to Masterton with a testing climb near Gladstone. Thursday's stage is 114 from Masterton to Palmerston North via the Pahiatua Track with a major climb late in the stage. Friday remains in Palmerston North for an 87km circuit race around Ashurst and an afternoon criterium ahead of Saturday's 112km stage to Masterton with an early climb in an otherwise flat stage. The tour is completed with a circuit criterium in Wellington.
