Preview: NRS Tour of the Tropics

The men's and women's AusCycling National Road Series (NRS) returns to far north Queensland and the Tour of the Tropics from today until Sunday across Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands for the first time since 2019.

The sun will be shining and the skies will be blue as blue! Who will come out on top in the tropics?

The Stages

Stage 1

Stage 1 on Friday takes place in Millaa Millaa on the Atherton Tablelands. The course is a 16.6km lap with an elevation of 366m per lap. It provides a moderate opening for the NRS bunches, with the lap predominately rolling terrain. The NRS men and National Junior Road Series (NJRS) men will cover 116km (seven laps), while the NRS and NJRS women will take on 83km (five laps).

Stage 2

Saturday rolls away with another road race, this time in Malanda on the Atherton Tablelands. The short 10km loop with 133m of elevation per lap is extremely punchy with little to no respite offered for the NRS bunches. You're either going up or going down on Saturday morning at Tour of the Tropics. The NRS and NJRS men have 124.3km (12 laps) of Malanda on the table, and the NRS and NJRS women have 84.3km (eight laps) to race.

Stage 3

Stage 3 remains in Malanda on Saturday, with an individual time trial starting from 2pm. The 9.9km course has 133m of elevation and incorporates most of the road race loop from earlier in the day.

Stage 4

Only the NRS men will race the final road race on Sunday morning in Green Hill and Gordonvale, located in the southern area of Cairns. After a 6km neutral out of Gordonvale, the men will roll on to a 7.8km course with 94m of elevation per lap. It's the flattest of the three road races at Tour of the Tropics and offers the fast men of the NRS a genuine chance of grabbing a win before the final criterium.

Stage 5

The finale of the 2022 Tour of the Tropics heads to the picturesque Cairns Esplanade for a four-corner square shaped criterium around luxury hotel Crystalbrook Riley. The 705m lap will have NJRS women and men racing over 30 minutes plus two laps, the NRS women for 50 laps, and the NRS men for 70 laps.

Key Riders

With a number of riders and teams either returning or still in Europe racing it means it's smaller NRS fields that have made the journey to Cairns for the three-day tour, with 32 riders listed on the start list for both the men and women respectively.

Unforeseen domestic flight cancellations on Wednesday and Thursday have unfortunately caused havoc for the NRS squads, with the actual number of starters expected to be smaller come Friday morning.

Elliot Schultz (InForm TMX Make) will be out to do some damage in his home state of Queensland at the Tour of the Tropics. Picture: Natural Focus Photography

InForm TMX Make are one of the worst hit teams by this conundrum at this stage, with five of their Victorian-based male riders set to be in the did not start column. Elliot Schultz and Tristan Saunders will hold the fort for the men, and Chelsea Holmes and Carlee Taylor will lead the way for the women.

ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast arrive in Cairns fresh off two months of racing in Europe. Not all of their riders have returned to Australia as yet, and this is reflected in their start lists for this weekend.

Danielle De Francesco will be as dangerous as always and the local knowledge of the developing Alisha Wells will come in handy over the three days.

NRS men leader Cameron Scott is a late withdrawal from the action this weekend, handing the onus to teammates Kane Richards, Craig Wiggins and Declan Tresize, who are all capable of taking stage wins and leading an overall general classification charge.

ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast's Cameron Scott leads the 2022 men's NRS. Picture: Con Chronis

Team BridgeLane have the biggest team on paper and will presumably look to use this to their advantage in the tropics. Dylan George, a resurgent Ben Metcalfe and Rhys Robotham will be three to keep an eye on.

Newly minted Cairns local Dylan McKenna will lead a two-man Nero Continental outfit alongside Leigh Phillips.

Rauland Development Cycling Team's Tom Chester could also be a threat all weekend.

Sydney Uni-Staminade Women's Cycling Team's Gina Ricardo takes charge of a four-member squad that includes former Canyon-SRAM rider Jessica Pratt.

Sydney Uni-Staminade's Gina Ricardo will be one of the challengers at Tour of the Tropics. Picture: Bear Liange/Veloshotz

VA Pro Racing Team's Ruth Corset will no doubt be flying as usual in what is reasonably familiar territory just a few hours north of her home in Townsville.

Giant Racing Team's Sophie Malowiecki has shown this season she has the legs to grab results at the front of the field and may be a dark horse overall podium challenger.

As could fellow Queenslander Mia Hayden from The Women's Racing Project, who is becoming a consistent performer at the NRS level in 2022.

Two-time Irish Olympian on the track Shannon McCurley and Keely Bennett should be front and centre for Knights of Suburbia Racing.

Ruth Corset (VA Pro Racing Team) has been at her classic best in 2022 right from the Santos Festival of Cycling back in January. Picture: Russ Ellis/Cycling Images

• Start lists

How To Follow

For race updates, follow Tour of the Tropics on Facebook and Instagram.

AusCycling and SBS Sport will have daily highlights on our Road & Esports Facebook page, our AusCycling YouTube channel and SBS Sport.

For National Road Series news and content, follow AusCycling’s dedicated Road & Esports Facebook page, and our main Twitter and Instagram accounts using the hashtag #NRS22.

Results will be available at the AusCycling results website, including results from the National Junior Road Series (U19) and graded racing.

Main picture: Con Chronis