Cycling Australia is delighted to announce Scott Sunderland as the Race Director for the five Cycling Australia (CA) owned and operated events within the 2013 Subaru National Road Series. Sunderland will perform the role at the Tour of Gippsland (31 Jul - 4 Aug), Tour of the Murray River (3-8 September), Tour of Tasmania (29 Sept - 6 Oct), Melbourne to Warrnambool (12 Oct) and the Shipwreck Coast Classic (13 Oct). As a decorated professional cyclist, Scott was a trusted domestique and contested the Giro d’Italia three times, the Vuelta Espana four times and the Tour de France twice, in addition to representing Australia at the UCI Road World Championships on eleven occasions. Post his competitive career, Sunderland became a Sports Director with Team CSC from 2004 to 2008, coaching the team to consecutive victories in the Paris - Roubaix and guiding Carlos Sastre to victory in the 2008 Tour de France before moving to British Cycling to spearhead the formation of Team Sky. “I have seen events from many different sides in races all around the world. I have been a part of organising events and as a team sports director, so I hope that I can bring additional knowledge, experiences and expertise to Cycling Australia’s Major Events team," said Sunderland after his appointment. “The NRS has come a hell of a long way and the level of racing has become a lot more professional, so I’m really excited to be involved. “My vision is to help the team develop the series to the point where we have semi-professional riders racing here in Australia. This will help Australia grow the cycling talent pool, enabling riders who don’t make international development teams to stay in Australia and continue competing at a very high level. “The NRS is perfect platform for young riders to progress their racing careers and it is very important to have all race organisers, teams and riders on the same page. I can see very positive movements there as all parties strive to achieve a high level of professionalism. “Now with CA running a third of the NRS events, we can have consistent benchmark across races which will help fast track the progression of the series.†“The level of competition is improving so rapidly that in the very near future I predict we will see world tour teams coming out to scout young Australian talent. In a similar manner my hope is that riders from around the world will want to be a part of Australian NRS teams because the level or racing.†“Last year we saw Budget Forklifts make huge improvements to challenge the top tier teams such as Drapac and Huon Genesys and with 14 additional teams racing in this year I look forward the level of competition stepping up significantly.†The overall 2013 Subaru NRS features 17 individual events to be held across the nation, including six combined men’s and women’s events with three stand-alone women’s and eight stand-alone men’s events. In total the women will contest nine events — up from six in 2012 — totalling 27 days of racing while the men will race 14 events — up from 12 — equalling 50 days of racing. The men’s series begins with the Tour de Perth (WA) from April 11, while the first event for the women is the Mersey Valley Tour (TAS) beginning on April 26. Link: http://nationalroadseries.subaru.com.au/
