"THE pressure is on everyone else."

That is the belief of One Pro Cycling's Sports Director Phil West ahead of tomorrow's (SUN) East Cleveland Klondike GP which will see some of the country's top cycling teams descend on East Cleveland for the opening round of the 2017 HSBC UK Spring Cup Series.

The brainchild of Jayne Barnard, Tourism Officer for East Cleveland Villages Big Local and organised by Velo29, the race leaves Guisborough and takes in Slapewath, Charltons, Margrove Park, Boosbeck, Lingdale, Kiltonthorpe, Carlin How, Skinningrove, Loftus, Liverton Mines, Liverton Village, Grinkle Lane, Easington, Brotton, Saltburn, Skelton, Skelton Green and Boosbeck.

It leaves the Market Place at noon and rolls past Gisborough Hall before joining the main circuit at Boosbeck. Riders will then do three-and-a-half loops of the circuit before heading back into Guisborough for the finish.

West is confident of a strong showing from a team comprising Pete Williams, George Harper, Kamil Gradek, Tom Stewart, Karol Domagalski, Kristian House, Hayden McCormick and Joshua Hunt.

"We have pretty much put our 'A' squad out for this first round," said West. "There is a lot of experience in that group. Tom Stewart won several national series rounds last year, Karol Domagalski won international stages and UCI races last year, there's former national road champion Kristian House, Pete Williams who is a former King of the Mountains in the Tour of Britain.

"There are two new guys in Tom Stewart and Kamil, but all have ridden together already this year - the Tour of Dubai and a couple of early season races."

West explained his reasons for sending such a strong team.

"It's a national series and it's important to us," he said. "But any bike race is important to us. We always want to field our best possible option. To be honest, I don't think there is any pressure on us here - I think the pressure is on the other teams.

"We were a Pro Continental team last year and we are a Continental team this year. I think collectively we feel confident in our capabilities, we will have a good race plan.

"We will race our race plan and we won't just react to what the other teams are doing. It's up to the other teams then to do what they need to do beat us."

West said he believed three or four members of the team were capable of winning the race.

"Our guys are all powerful punchy guys. The climbs are steep, but they are not super long. It is a little bit Belgian-style racing in that sense. There is quite a bit of technical element to the race, the climbs are short and sharp, but there are also some sections where it is going to be exposed and windy. But it is all about power really and that will suit our combination of riders," he said.

West said he had been out on the course and praised the organisers for what they had been able to deliver.

"I did a recon the other day and, on the face of it, I quite like the course," he said. "It's got a combination of everything really. There's climbs, descents, it's technical, there are some narrow roads and some wider roads. I think it's credit to the organisers for being able to pull together a course like that because it will clearly be a challenge to manage everything around the route.

"Obviously, if we don't get a decent result we might change that point of view, but I am sure that won't be the case. On the face of it it's a good racing course."