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Preview

2001 winner: Kim Bruckner Photo ©: Tom Balks

By Jeff Jones

The Tour de Snowy is in its fifth year this year, and is being conducted over just three days to work in with race budgets and the two World Cups. The event will however cover some exhilarating courses including several tough climbs, but it will be much more open than in previous years.

Colorado based climber Kimberly Bruckner (Saturn) will return to defend her title and will have a powerful six-member team supporting her quest for honours. The Saturn team this year will not include world number one Anna Millward, who is still recovering from surgery that she had late last year. Although her presence will be missed, the team is certainly strong enough to compensate, with former World Champions Petra Rossner, Judith Arndt and Cathy Marsal, along with domestiques Kristy Scrymgeour and Jessica Phillips.

Rossner is the team's main hope for the World Cup while Bruckner will carry the flag for the Tour de Snowy. Watch out for Marsal though - the French pocket dynamo has been training in and around Sydney for the past month and has put in a lot of kilometres. She's fit and the TDS course will suit her.

Saturn will be up against some serious competition this year. The "Queen of Cycling", triple Olympic gold medalist Leontien Ziljaard-Van Moorsel will be leading the Dutch national team, which also contains the ever consistent Mirjam Melchers. The Dutch team is highly experienced, although they may lack some form so early in the season.

Margaret Hemsley Photo ©: Tom Balks

There are two Australian national teams to compete in the TDS this year: the Australian Institute of Sport led by Sara Carrigan, and the Australian National Team led by national road champion Margaret Hemsley. The Aussies are always competitive in this race, and will ensure that the other teams are kept on their toes. Added to this is the NSW Institute of Sport Trek Team, which contains top sprinter Rochelle Gilmore, who has been concentrating on track racing recently but should still be a good chance in a bunch sprint.

The new Cannondale USA national team will compete together for the first time in Australia, although at least two of them, Mari Holden and Lara Ruthven are certainly no strangers to Australian shores. The rest of the team includes Kimberly Anderson, Katrina Berger, and Dorothy Cowden.

Two trade teams, Vlaanderen and Itera will also be competing for the first time in Australia. Vlaanderen has a multi-national mix of Debby Mansveld (Ned), Susanne Ljungskog (Swe), Vanessa Cheatley (NZl) and Heidi Van De Vijver (Bel). Itera is a Russian team but has only one Russian member for these races: formidable track and road sprinter Olga Slioussareva.

Japan has sent two national teams with four members each. The teams' standout rider is Miho Oki, who is always a contender in the bunch sprints.

The New Zealand team has Rosalind Reekie-May, Melissa Holt and Kirsty Robb as the key members, who should be active throughout the race.

The International mixed team contains Swede Madeleine Lindberg and Swiss Priska Doppmann amongst others. Both riders are very experienced and Priska has spent quite a lot of time in Australia.

The final three teams - Northern, Southern and Cooma Cycles - are a mixture of homegrown talent, and have the advantage over the Europeans of being at the peak of their seasons.

TV coverage

The race is once again commanding a significant amount media exposure with the race packaged for national and international distribution.

One hour will be screened nightly on C7 Sports commencing at 8pm or 8.30pm each night (EST) with a special documentary screened a week after the event.

SBS will also be screening 10-15 minutes nightly on the World Sports Program commencing at 7pm from the Sunday through to the Wednesday night and look like producing a one hour special for the week after while two one hour packages will be beamed to more than 100 countries via Murdoch's networks.

Past winners

2001 Kimberly Bruckner (USA) Team Saturn
2000 Geneviève Jeanson (Can) Canada
1999 Tracey Gaudry (Aus) ACT Academy of Sport
1998 Dede Demet (USA) Saturn

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