Gas Launceston To New Norfolk cycling classic

TASSIE TOUR SCALES NEW HEIGHTS

The 2009 Caterpillar Underground Mining Tour of Tasmania road cycling classic will embrace a record number of 10 municipalities.

Tour Director John Craven said today the course was the toughest in the tour's history.

"It won't be a race for the faint-hearted," he said.

The 655km tour, to be held from September 29 to October 4, is expected to be contested by about 120 riders from all Australian states, New Zealand, England and the USA.

It will break new ground by starting from inside the cargo hold of the Spirit of Tasmania in Devonport's MerseyRiver at 11am on Wednesday, September 29.

The tour will pass through the municipalities of Devonport, Kentish, MeanderValley, Burnie, Circular Head, CentralCoast, Launceston, West Tamar, George Town and Dorset before finishing with a closed circuit criterium at the Village Green in Westbury on Sunday, October 4.

Craven said the course featured 77 intermediate sprints and 44 hill climbs. (Course Attached).

The tour will be held two days after the inaugural Tas Gas 210km Launceston to New Norfolk Classic.

The classic, a replacement event for the time-honoured Launceston to Hobart race, will start at 9am on Sunday, September 27, at the Country Club Tasmania in Prospect Vale.

It will pass through four municipalities - MeanderValley, Northern Midlands, CentralHighlands and DerwentValley - before concluding in New Norfolk around 2.15pm.

"Tasmania is poised to embark on a feast of top-flight international cycling," Craven said.

Tasmania now has two events of international importance which are getting great support from the Tasmanian Government, a wide range of enthusiastic councils and the commercial sector."

MORE INFORMATION:

John Craven

Caribou Publications

Ph: 03 5224 2466

Mob: 0408 558 469

Contact:

Phone: