Kiwis skip Vuelta Espana

Henderson is not racing the Vuelta, but has a solid block of racing ahead of the World Champs ©Graham Watson

Aug 17th, 11. The peloton of the Vuelta Espana, the third Grand Tour of 2011, will be without a Kiwi representative when it begins this weekend - the Kiwis are busy elsewhere.

The final Vuelta Espana start list has not yet been announced, but the Kiwis are not on the provisional list.

New Zealand's pro-tour riders are on the provisional start list for many other big races though.

Julian Dean, the only Kiwi to race a Grand Tour this year, is racing the Tour of Britain.

He will line up with Garmin Cervelo's World Champion Thor Hushovd for the week long British tour. It starts the day the Spanish tour ends, 11 September.  Hushovd, and probably Dean, is also racing the one day Vattenfall Cyclassic in Germany on August 21st.

Also on the Tour of Britain start line will be Jack Bauer (Endura), who was preparing for his team's home tour at the Tour of Utah where he won a stage and impressed throughout.

Greg Henderson was disappointed not to be named in Team Sky's roster for the Vuelta but he has set new goals. Last week's Eneco Tour was part of his block of race preparation looking ahead to the GP Plouay and then the UCI World Road Championships on September 25th.

"I am going to get special wheels built. I'll have a very good block of racing now, then three weeks of solid training and moto work. I am really looking forward to it," he said of his World Champs preparation.

Bewley (seen here pulling the peloton at Eneco Tour) is racing a tour in France ©Graham Watson

At the Eneco Tour, Henderson raced alongside Kiwi RadioShack duo Sam Bewley and Jesse Sergent.

He will be racing with them again at the five stage Tour International Poitou-Charentes in France, starting August 23rd.

Hayden Roulston (HTC Highroad) might not be racing the grand tour, but he is racing against the world's top grand tour riders.

Next weeks' USA Pro Cycling challenge will see Tour de France winner Cadel Evans (BMC) and the 2nd and 3rd placed Schleck brothers (Leopard Trek), amongst others, battle it out over the six stage race.

After a great first outing with RadioShack,  Kiwi George Bennett has been included in the team's lineup for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

As well as the Kiwi males, one Kiwi female is also preparing for a big few weeks. Serena Sheridan (Tibco) has 13 UCI races - two tours and a World Cup event over the next three weeks!

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