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2010 season roundup - Ruaraidh McLeod Sep 3rd, 10. Ruaraidh McLeod shares his season roundup after his first year as a Kiwi ... read more |
Hushovd the victor in Vuelta Sep 3rd, 10. Cervélo TestTeam’s Thor Hushovd delivered an impressive victory after climbing over a short ... read more |
Vuelta Espana 2010 Stage 6 resultsSep 3rd,10. Results from Stage 6 of the Vuelta Espana ... read more |
| New US team for kiwi Rushlee Buchanan |
 Sep 30th, 09. Kiwi Rushlee Buchanan has announced her plans for the 2010 international season. She is heading back to the USA but will be racing for a new team.
Buchanan winning the NZ Criterium Championships (c)Ivan Aplin
"In 2010 I have decided to make a change in direction and I have a new Women's Professional Team," Buchanan told RoadCycling.co.nz. "I will be in Colavita - Sutter Home women's team, and I am very excited about beginning a new chapter with this team." Fellow kiwi Cath Cheatley had great success with this team in 2009 where she finished 5th in the NRC (US National Racing Calendar) rankings before heading to her fantastic 10th placing at the UCI World Championships. Cheatley has not announced if she is staying with the team for 2010 or making a change herself. Buchanan has been back in Te Awamutu, New Zealand for two weeks and is slowly re-adjusting to the kiwi riding scene. "I am now back in the land of the long white cloud, and enjoying NZ coffee and hanging out Kiwi style, but I must say that the road surface here is reasonably rough!! That or I have been lucky to be living in California where they have smooth chip seal everywhere?" she said. She said she has been riding her bike on the trainer in the garage a fair bit as she's not quite ready to brave the 'winter' weather. After just one week in the country Buchanan competed in the Raboplus National Criterium Champs where she won the title after leading the field for most of the race. "Last weekend I managed to race under sun and actually get a tan when I entered the NZ Criterium Champs in Hastings. I was ready to race hard and the Hawkes Bay had put on a beautiful day so I took full advantage of this and 10min into the 45min race I attacked the bunch, only to stay away for the remainder of the race and win the NZ Title in a solo breakaway," she said. "I am very excited to be able to pull on the NZ jersey next year in America, as there is a Criterium every weekend over there and the jersey is bound to get some good airtime!" Buchanan credits her good form in part to the month of altitude training she shared with Alison Shanks, Westley Gough and BikeNZ coach Craig Palmer in Boulder, Colorado. "The four of us were all fit as a fiddle by the time the month finished. We traversed many a mountain with a large lack of oxygen, the highest point being 10,300ft high where I can tell you the air is very thin! No matter how hard you breathe in there is no more oxygen going into your lungs!" she said. Tomorrow Buchanan is heading down to Invercargill for a two week BikeNZ training camp.
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