Defending champion back for Wellington tour

Jan 20th, 10.  The Trust House Cycle Classic field got stronger with today's announcement the defending champion Peter McDonald is set to return to defend his title next week.

McDonald in the leader's jersey in 2009

The Drapac Porsche team is perhaps the strongest of the seven Australian squads who have entered the 23rd running of the Trust House Cycle Classic.

McDonald is backed up by a strong team which includes Joseph Lewis, Lachlan Norris, Michael Phelan and Thomas Palmer.

Lewis has won five Australian state titles and has lived and raced in Europe since 2007.

Norris has a background in mountain biking. He won the 2008 Oceania title, and was 11th at the World Championships last year.

Phelan was last year's Australian under-19 road champion and has represented his country. Palmer is also an accomplished performer, he has won three world titles on the track and was third in the sprint competition in last year's Trust House classic.

Jorge Sandoval, Tour Director, talked positively about the professionalism which the Drapac Porsche team bring to this event.

"They will come to the Classic very well prepared, and with a full backup group of masseurs, a mechanic and a coach. It shows how serious they are," said Sandoval.

"If this team rides as it should it will be a top contender to have one of its members take the overall title back to Australia." 

Australian national team

The seventh team to announce their participation in the Trust House Cycle Classic is the Jayco Skins team. Jayco Skins is an Australian national team which has previously raced as Team AIS.

Team Jayco Skins is registered as a UCI Continental Team in the Oceania Region and continues the tradition of excellence of Cycling Australia's High Performance Program.

The team selects its riders from the Cycling Australia / Australian Institute of Sport U23 road development program, and from the talent of Australia's track endurance riders.

The AIS has a proud history of producing talented cyclists who have succeeded at the very top level.   Five of their riders have won this event in the past; Robbie McEwen, Corey Sweet, Hayden Bradbury, Matthew Lloyd and most recently Travis Meyer the current Australian Road Champion.

"I wouldn't be surprised if another great Australian cycling talent is discovered here after next week's Trust House Cycle Classic," said Sandoval.

The tour's first stage is from Upper Hutt to Masterton via the Rimutaka Hill on January 27, and after the next three days in the Wairarapa, finishes with a criterium on the streets of inner Wellington on the afternoon of January 31.

Related articles on the Trust House Cycle Classic

• Full results
• Team lists
• Torckler crowned Trust House Tour Champion
• Fast paced stage sets Torckler up for final tour defence
• Sprint Ace wins stage but Kiwi retains yellow
• Attacks expected in Trust House tour today
• Torckler gives Kiwis something to cheer about
• From Tour Down Under to Wellington tour
• Defending champion stakes his claim
• Summit fun on Rimutaka Hill
• Five NZ champions for Trust House tour
• Kiwi Aussie showdown looming
• Defending champion back for Trust House tour