National series champion signs with leading pro tour cycling team

Sheridan, who recently sealed the RaboDirect national series for the second straight year, will race alongside another new signing in Tara Whitten, the Canadian who won the Commonwealth Games time trial and world championship in the points race and omnium. Team TIBCO also boasts 2009 US national champion Meredith Miller and outstanding ski racing convert Alison Powers.National road series champion Serena Sheridan is the latest New Zealand cyclist to be picked up by a major professional team. Sheridan, formerly from Nelson but now based in Hawkes Bay, will compete for top rating American Team TIBCO for 2011, alongside fellow New Zealander Joanne Kiesanowski. It’s a major breakthrough for Sheridan who competed for New Zealand in last year’s world championship road race in Melbourne. “I am very excited to be joining one of the best professional women’s teams in the world,” Sheridan said. “This is a dream come true for me and an important step towards my goal of a podium spot in the road race at the London Olympics 2012.” The team will be based in Limoux in the South of France where Sheridan will head in early March. Her early schedule includes two French Cup series races ahead of the Trofeo Binda World Cup in Varese, Italy and one of cycling’s most celebrated races, the UCI World Cup event at the Tour of Flanders over the infamous cobbles. Sheridan will join the team after competing in the Women’s Tour of New Zealand in late February. She is currently training in Nelson for the Tour de Vineyards on January 1 to 4, an event she has wont here times, as preparation for the RaboDirect New Zealand road championships in Christchurch on Saturday 8 January.