Rookie cyclist Jack Haig takes lead on the road

IF Jack Haig had it his way, the hills would all be mountains. The mountain bike specialist is seeking to set the pace in the Adelaide Tour.

Jack Haig

IF Jack Haig had it his way, the hills would all be mountains.

The Bendigo boy and mountain bike specialist is emerging as Australian cycling's next rising star as he seeks to extend his lead in the National Road Series at the three-day Adelaide Tour, starting on Friday.

A relative newcomer to the skinny tyres of road riding, Haig has stunned his rivals to lead the series with 34 points, five clear of Nathan Earle after the opening three events on the calendar.

"I thought I would go OK but I haven't done much road racing, so I definitely wasn't expecting to go this well so early," the Huon Salmon-Genesys Wealth Advisers rider said.

The Adelaide Tour features today's Patrick Jonker team time trial from Cudlee Creek to Newton, before a 158.4km Stuart O'Grady road race that loops through Woodside, Oakbank, Balhannah and Hahndorf.

A city-circuit Mike Turtur kermesse closes the event on Sunday.

Tomorrow's road race avoids iconic climbs of the Tour Down Under such as Corkscrew Road and Old Willunga Hill, leaning more towards lower-category rolling hills.

Haig, whose strengths are climbs and individual time trials, said the weekend presented a challenge to retain his lead.

"I'm a bit nervous but I've got a pretty decent lead at the moment, so it's not too bad," he said.

"Adelaide isn't really a tour that's going to suit me, with no individual time trial and not being hilly.

"But we're hoping that as a team we can be really strong in the team time-trial and hopefully put ourselves in the lead for the tour.

"You always look to extend the lead. I would hate to just settle for where I am now.

"This is a really close series, so someone like Neil van der Ploeg (equal third overall, team search2retain) is right there, and some of the races coming up later in the year will suit him more than me."

Haig's success in the National Road Series follows his bronze finish in the under-23 road race at January's road national championships in Ballarat.

That came six weeks before Haig won silver at Australian Mountain Bike Championships in Canberra, in February.

It is understood the double made Haig the first Aussie male cyclist to win a medal at road and mountain bike nationals in the same year since Cadel Evans.