Madison-Genesis rider Handley thinks it could be a case of 'last man standing' at Klondike GP

The Madison-Genesis rider is making his home debut for the team at the East Cleveland race on Sunday and is looking forward to a winning weekend.

A training camp in Calpe, Spain and a ride in the Tour of Normandy has put the team in good spirits, but Handley knows the opposition will be just as confident in what is the early part of the season.

"These races tend to start off quite hard and it's just a case of last man standing really," says Handley of the event which forms the opening round of the 2017 HSBC UK Spring Cup Series.

"It usually goes from a break and obviously the first thing will be to try and get riders in there and hopefully get better numbers represented there than the other teams.

"I think it generally plays out from there. It depends on other teams, they might be riding for bunch sprints, it will be interesting to see if other teams look to ride that way or whether everybody is out to get numbers up the road.

"There are quite of other riders in smaller teams that you can't discount. They tend to slide in to moves a little easier and go unnoticed so you have got to watch out for those as well."

Though new to the team, Handley, 26 and from Wigan, has settled in quickly.

"I joined the team this year, so this is my first season," he says. "It's been really good, I knew quite a lot of the people in the team, the manager and riders. It's enjoyable being with them, it doesn't feel like a job.

"I approached them towards the end of last season. The team I was with was a bit unstable at the time. I spoke to Mike (Northey) the manager and it all went from there."

He describes himself as an all-round rider, "probably more suited to the hillier stuff" and despite his age is one of the older heads in the team.

"I have done quite a lot of the races, it seems to have come round quite quick but I am one of the older riders now, so I think I have got quite a bit of experience in Mike's eyes as well, so I can try and help people," he said.

"I have had a top ten in the Tour de Yorkshire GC and won a stage of the Tour of Korea and had a tour series win in Durham."

Handley said coming away victorious was definitely part of the plan.

"We have to see early on how everyone is going, but we are here to race for the win so hopefully we can do that," he said.

"I have seen the route, I got the manual through in the last couple of days and it does look quite a hilly course. It's short, sharp stuff and you tend to roll over them a bit faster with a bunch as well.

"It's big circuits as well, so it's not like you are doing lots of little laps. I think it is going to be quite rolly and just one of those general courses that could suit any kind of rider - it should make for good racing."