Swiss to headline classic

Switzerland’s quest for world track cycling success will begin on the roads of Wairarapa.

The five-strong Swiss national pursuit squad are the first team to confirm their participation in next month’s New Zealand Cycle Classic. Led by Thery Schir and Cyrille Thiery, the team also contains 2016 world scratch race bronze medallist Claudio Imhof.

They will be in New Zealand for a month-long training camp, between the Chile and Belarus legs of the World Cup season and ahead of March’s track cycling world championships in the Netherlands. The five-day classic begins in Masterton on January 17.

‘‘They’ll be very good on the flat stages and in the sprint finishes in stage one and two. I’m not so sure how they’ll go when we get to Admiral Hill,’’ race director Jorge Sandoval said.

Schir and Thiery have had stage wins and podium finishes in races in Europe, while Stefan Bissegger’s results in Belgium and Holland and at the world road championships suggest he’s a talent for the future. Sandoval expects Bissegger to be dangerous in any bunch sprints.

The Swiss team is coached by Ross Machejefski, who was previously head of Cycling New Zealand’s junior elite programme and an assistant with the women’s team. Beyond riding at the classic, Machejefksi will have the team training at Cambridge’s Avantidrome.

The Swiss will be thrilled to hear the classic’s 147km fourth stage is returning to its former glory. In recent years the stage has finished below the summit of Admiral Hill, but the last gutbusting section has been reinstated following negotiations with the current land owner.