I'm in the best tour form ever: Roulston

Bad news for anyone hoping to knock Hayden Roulston off the Tour of Southland throne next week – he believes he's in some of the best form he's ever been, going into the six-day race.

"After the Tour de France I really only raced the world championships," Roulston, who will be chasing a fourth consecutive Southland title, said.

"So I am looking forward to this. I have trained very well in recent weeks and I think I am in the best form ever – in mind and body – to take on the Tour of Southland."

A fourth win when the tour returns to Invercargill next Saturday after nine stages and 882km of racing would push Roulston past the great Tino Tabak (three wins from 1965 to 1967) and towards the records set by the incomparable Brian Fowler during the 1980s and 90s.

Victory next week, however, is anything but guaranteed.

The record field of 125 riders includes several top New Zealanders with overseas experience and some handy internationals, including Floyd Landis who won the Tour de France in 2006 before being stripped of his title in a doping controversy.

"The standard is fantastic, not only with some of our best riders but also some really strong riders and teams from overseas," Roulston said.

"This is a truly good tour and is so well run. It deserves to have top riders. Regardless of the Landis doping situation, the guy was good enough to win the Tour de France so there's undoubted world class."

Along with Landis, the defending champion will face competition from the likes of Jeremy Vennell in the Bissell team, Subway Avanti's Gordon McCauley, who finished second to Roulston last year and Zookeepers-Cycle Surgery rider Heath Blackgrove, who was third in 2008.

Roulston said the weather would once again be the key to which teams would do well.

"We've had top riders here from overseas before but you have to be powerful and know how to ride the strong crosswinds. And you are bound to get a bad day with weather. That can totally change the race in one day."

Roulston, it was announced yesterday, will debut for his new employers Team Columbia-HTC in January's Tour Down Under in Adelaide as part of a seven-man team.

The Tour of Southland begins on Monday with a team time trial around Queens Park in the morning and an 82km stage beginning in Invercargill and finishing atop Bluff Hill.

- © Fairfax NZ News