Antony Nalder leading the category two peloton. The Meo GP rider finished fourth behind winner Max Ferguson. PHOTOS/DI CHESMAR
CYCLING
CHRIS COGDALE
[email protected]
Wairarapa riders were to the fore in the fourth race of the Trust House North Island Team Series, taking line honours and the lead in the teams’ championship in category four.
Race director Jorge Sandoval’s pre-race prediction that the Tararua Builders would target the race, which finished with a gruelling 3km climb up Rangitumau Hill, was spot on with Duncan Cameron crossing the finish line first, and with four teammates in the top 10.
Aucklander Clint Williams [Serco-RNNZ] was second by less than a second and Toshi Yamahuchi [Luxury Cycle Tours] was third, 25 seconds behind.
Peter James was the second of the Tararua Builders riders in fifth place, with teammate Emily Lutyens the first woman home in sixth place. Lutyens was riding a borrowed bike after hers was damaged in a crash during a club race last Tuesday night.
Andrew Osmond was eighth and Phil Sutherland ninth giving Tararua Builders an eight-point lead in the teams’ competition with one race to go.
Tararua Builders also moved into second place in category two, with Dominic Green fifth and Richard van Lent seventh in the race won by Riley Tunnicliffe [Bike Manawatu].
Forty-nine riders were together at the bottom of the hill before a breakaway halfway up comprising Tunnicliffe, last year’s winner Rob Kilvington [Capital Cycles], and Josh Mulcahy [Base Solutions].
Tunnicliffe pulled away to win by 2.47 seconds from Mulcahy with Kilvington in third place.
Wairarapa rider Mark Langlands’ team Coupland Bakeries-Booth Group took the lead in category one, with teammate Adam Francis taking the win by two seconds from Boston Bright [Wheelworks] with Elliot Robertson [NZ Cycling Project] in third.
Bike Manawatu riders dominated category two with young riders Max Fergusson and Michael Ritchmond taking first two places with Simon Dowset in third place.
Sandoval said Sunday’s race was demanding with strong crosswinds and rain, but all the riders were happy to finish what he described as arguably the most challenging race of the series.
The winners of the series in all grades will be decided in the final race on November 29 when riders will tackle a new 85km hilly circuit from Masterton to Dreyers Rock before turning back to head to Bideford with the finish at Te Ore Rd.
LEADING RESULTS FROM RACE 4
Category One:
1 Adam Francis [Coupland’s Bakeries-Booth’s Group],
2 Boston Bright [Wheelworks],
3 Elliot Robertson [NZ Cycling Project].
Category leader – Madi Hartley-Brown [Coupland’s Bakeries-Booth’s Group];
Leading team – Coupland’s Bakeries-Booth’s Group.
Category 2:
1 Max Ferguson [Bike Manawatu],
2 Michael Richmond [Bike Manawatu], 3 Simon Dowset [I RIDE].
Category Leader – Max Ferguson [Bike Manawatu];
Leading team – Bike Manawatu
Category 3:
1 Riley Tunnicliffe [Bike Manawatu];
2 Josh Mulcahy [Base Solutions Racing], 3 Rob Kilvington [Best Build-Crown Kiwi-Capital Cycles].
Category leader – Cameron Wood [Wheelworks];
Leading team – Bike Manawatu.
Category 4:
1 Duncan Cameron [Tararua Builders Racing],
2 Clint Williams [Serco and RNZN Spin Riders],
3 Toshi Yamauchi [Luxury Cycle Tours].
Category leader – Mike Thompson [Luxury Cycle Tours];
Leading team – Tararua Builders
