Roulston withdraws from PowerNet Tour of Southland
Official statement 3 November 2009

Following is an official statement from Hayden Roulston outlining his withdrawal from the PowerNet Tour of Southland.

Defending PowerNet Tour of Southland champion Hayden Roulston was forced to pull out of the event after sustaining injuries after being involved in a crash while officials attempted to neutralise the race during stage two of yesterday’s racing.

He has suffered bruising and swelling to his left knee and the right knee has a deep hematoma. He has also dislocated his AC joint in his right shoulder and travelled back to Christchurch today for x-rays and treatment.

He had planned to have a break off the bike during November anyway until early December when he will start serious training again with his first race being The RaboPlus Elite Road Cycling National Championships in Christchurch in early January followed by the Santos Tour Down Under in Adelaide from 17 to 24 January.

Roulston was “disappointed” with the neutralisation decision made by the race Commissaire saying that “crashes are part of bike racing.”

He said the strong winds had played havoc with the field and felt for riders involved in a large crash about 15 minutes before he himself was bought down.

Roulston had slowed down after passing through Wallacetown when confronted with race officials attempting to neutralise racing after the crash has seriously disrupted the stage. He was with Subway Avanti rider Gordon McCauley discussing the neutralisation decision when hit from behind by another rider which took them all down.

He does not blame Christchurch rider Allan Williams saying there was massive confusion about the state of the race at that point with officials trying to gain some control over proceedings, and rang Williams today to say there were “no hard feelings.”

Roulston was looking for a fourth straight win in New Zealand’s premier road tour event before moving to new pro team Columbia HTC which will make him ineligible for the Southland event for at least the next two years.

ENDS