NZ team aims for Tour de France by 2015

New Zealand's newest professional cycling team has stated its audacious ambitions at a star-studded launch

New Zealand has its first fully fledged professional cycling team and it is aiming to recruit the country's finest riders.

Pure Black Racing will debut in the Tour of Southland later this year, before heading to the United States to compete in the UCI?s US Continental Tour next year and push a claim for a place on the roads of Europe.

With the likes of Prime Minister John Key and Sarah Ulmer in attendance, Pure Black Racing announced it is aiming to race in the Tour de France in five years.

Team director and decorated yachtsman Carl Williams believes New Zealand has enough talent to take on the best in the world and says the objective is to field the most potent team of New Zealanders they can.

Williams says their model is based on the same one that took Sir Peter Blake to victory in the America's Cup in 1995. He says the foundation of the team will all be New Zealanders, in the same way Sir Peter set up Team New Zealand.

Announcements around team members, uniform and sponsorship will be made in the coming months.