CENTRAL BENCHMAKERS – WILLBIKE (CBW)

41 Myles Gibson

42 Adam Francis (U23)

43 Luke McDermot

44 Ethan Rose (U23)

45 James Wilson (U23)

46 James Williamson

Myles Gibson is originally from Northern Ireland, but has been racing in New Zealand for the last five years. He is racing his fourth tour this year, but his claim that he left Northern Ireland to escape the wind and rain might be viewed as tempting fate when it comes to the tour. Adam Francis is one of the young guns in the team at 18 years old, but has previous national mountain bike, road, and triathlon titles to his name. He has his sights set on a good finish up The Remarkables. Luke McDermott has been riding for 15 years, and is on his sixth tour this year, aiming to support the team and look for some opportunities of his own along the way. Ethan Rose might be new to the Tour of Southland, but he has plenty of experience off road, starting his mountain bike racing career when he was nine years old. Since then he has been racking up some impressive results, including becoming U19 Oceania mountain bike champion in 2020, and New Zealand U19 mountain bike champion in 2020 and 2021. His lead in to Southland might not be ideal, coming out of MIQ just four days before the start, but he is looking forward to a great race nonetheless. James Wilson is another talented young rider stepping up to the tour, having taking out the South Island Secondary Schools time trial and road race championships in 2019. James Williamson is back for his sixth tour this year, having built up plenty of experience and results over the years, including becoming national road race champion in 2012.