Oct 9th, 09.

"The BISSELL team has raced Tour of Southland before and it is a great race," Bissell liaison Beth Skau told RoadCycling.co.nz.

"We will be there to support our title sponsor, BISSELL, in New Zealand. It is also home to some of our team and it is great to support them on their home soil," she said.

Back in 2007 Bissell had great results but left disappointed when they weren't able to turn their stage success into overall success. The team missed a key breakaway which ended up fighting for the overall General Classification.

This year they're coming with a team to fight for the overall win, however Bissell understand it takes more than stage victories to win at the PowerNet Tour of Southland.

"We know we have the riders to win stages but it takes a great team performance to win the overall," said Skau.

"Most New Zealanders will be aware of Jeremy's style of racing and know he will be a threat for overall, we also have Ben Jacques-Maynes who will be looking at a top result for his first time racing in New Zealand. Either way it is a great race to come and do," she said.

Ben Jacques-Maynes has recently been announced as the Bissell Pro Cycling team leader for 2010.  He put in a strong performance throughout the US season where he demonstrated his ability to compete against the world’s best through his outstanding results at the Tour of California, Nevada City and Tour of Missouri.

Bissell Pro Cycling team for the PowerNetTour of Southland

• Ben Jacques-Maynes, all rounder - US
• Jeremy Vennell, Current NZ Time Trial Champion - NZ
• Peter Latham, New NZ Criterium Champion - NZ
• Omer Kem, all rounder - US
• Cody O'Reilly, sprinter & support rider - US

PowerNet Tour of Southland coverage

• Stage reports, blogs and other news
• Results
• Photo galleries
• Team and rider list
• Live Commentary
• Comment on this article and others on the facebook.com/roadcycling page

The official Website of the Tour of Southland is www.tourofsouthland.com. Thanks to the PowerNet Tour of Southland team for Results and Live Coverage of the race.