CYCLING

Report Race One North Island Team Series

By NZ Cycle Classic

New Zealand cycling legends Gary Anderson and Andy Hagan as well as teams from New Plymouth, Whanganui, Gisborne and Wellington took early control of the 2016 Trust House North Island series held in the Wairarapa last Sunday.

The opening race of the five series event was held in the Gladstone region and attracted 170 riders who competing in a 12km Team’s Time Trial (TTT) followed by a 90 -120km Road Race.



Team Skoda Racing overcame challenging wet conditions to win the elite grade TTT in a time of 16 minutes 12 seconds, followed by Blindz Direct, New Plymouth and the young Manawatu team Spoken Cycles in third place, both recording a time of 16 minutes 20 seconds.

In the Masters Grade One, a strong team from Gisborne, Champion Systems ECV lead by Stephen Sheldrake took the race with a time of 17 minutes 14 seconds followed by the Wellington Roadworks team, one second behind and Fit Lab in third place 17 minutes 50 seconds.

The Masters Grade Two saw one of New Zealand’s greatest, Gary Anderson lead Velo Ronny’s Trek from Whanganui to victory in a time of 18 minutes one second. Wellington teams Total Home Theatre and Kiwi Velo Tarbabies rounded out the minor placings.

The afternoon Road Race for the 120km elite had three Wellington riders dictating the pace right from the start. David Rowlands, Matt Cryer and Andy Hagan broke away after just 15km and quickly managed to form a lead of up to three minutes over the peloton. They stayed away despite some hard work by the main bunch over the last lap to reel them in. In the end Rowlands took victory from Hagan and Cryer with Joel Yates from Team Skoda coming in to take the Masterton Mitre 10 Mega under 23 classification.



The Masters Grade One 90km Road Race was dominated by Gisborne team Champion System ECV. Their riders were always in a good position to stop any attacks and in the end they took the victory with  Stephen Sheldrake in first place and his team mate Lee Johnstone in third. Matt Webber from Rivet Racing managed to interrupt the trifecta by taking second place.

The Masters Grade Two was a close race with the bunch being together for the first 40-50km until two riders decided to break away and eventually held on to take line honours. Huib Buyck from the Total Home Theatre team came in first with Kerrin Allwood from PNP Cycling in second and Tim Renner from Kiwivelo in third place.

Wairarapa riders Lyle Cuming and Peter James were the best placed riders in the Master’s grades.
The second race in the Trust House North Island Series on Sunday 16 October is expected to provide spectators with an excellent chance to watch a Criterium race at the Masterton MotorPlex.
“There will be 170 riders competing in fast paced laps of the drag strip making an incredible cycling spectacle. These guys are capable of hitting speeds in excess of 70km/hour making it a great watch,” says Race Director Jorge Sandoval.
 
Criterium racing started at 10.00am followed by an afternoon Road Race from Masterton to Martinborough and back


 
DETAILS:
The Trust House North Island Team Series

Race Two: Sunday 16 October 2016 (Criterium and road race)
Race Three: Sunday 30 October 2016
Race Four: Saturday 12 November 2016
Race Five: Sunday 4 December 2016