THE fields for the Australian Road Championships have been all but finalised, with Sunday’s registration cut-off prompting a late flurry of professional entries.
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Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships race director Sean Muir is pleased with the number of registrations received, which now tally more than 300 cyclists.
“There were a couple more professional riders who submitted entries on the last night, and it’s looking like a pretty high quality field,” Muir said.
Among the more recent big name entrants are UCI Pro-Team Garmin-Sharp riders Steele Von Hoff, Rohan Dennis and Lachlan Morton, as well as Adam Hansen from Lotto-Belisol.
A host of national standard riders have also put their names up for competition.
A total of 137 cyclists will contest the men’s category while 69 will take to the roads in the women’s class, but Muir’s attention lies with the 123 riders set to compete in the under-23 division.
“It shows that the under-23 rider category is one of Australia’s strongest, and there are several riders in there that are ready to explode,” Muir said.
“Numbers are on par from last year and the depth is as deep as it has ever been.”
There are still many names to be confirmed for the championships, among them 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans.
Evans is still yet to receive a clearance from BMC to compete, but event directors are hoping to receive confirmation of his attendance over the next few days.
The riders will be seeded today, with the official fields to be confirmed by the end of the week.
