Halliday not targeting second New Zealand title

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Australian Time Trial Champion Amber Halliday will return to the site of her first cycling success - the Women’s Tour of New Zealand - next week, but she isn’t aiming for a second title. Halliday was a largely unknown rider at last year’s event, with the former rower surprising everyone as she claimed the Admiral Hill stage victory and subsequently the overall win.

“It would be nice to have a good ride in NZ but part of the reason for my win last year is that people didn't know who I was and what I was capable of, not even me really,” Halliday told Cyclingnews. “I'm guessing that this year will be different.”

Instead Halliday will play a domestique role for team-mate and fellow Australian national champion Ruth Corset. The pair will be joined by Australians Jessie Maclean and Davina Summers and South African pairing Cherise Taylor and Charlotte Van de Merve.

“I'm lucky enough to be in a team with Ruth Corset, so I'm looking forward to taking up the super-domestique role to help her out,” said Halliday. “There is a time trial I believe, so my individual aim is to honour the national champion jersey in that. Beyond that, it's all about the team.”

Halliday has spent most of this week in Melbourne, Australia where the Australian Institute of Sport has held a training camp focused on time trialing. The camp involved recorded rides over the course that will be used in this year’s UCI World Road Championships and sessions in Monash University’s wind tunnel.