CYCLING

Queen stage this weekend in Trust House North island team series

By NZ Cycle Classic

Top New Zealand riders are travelling to Masterton once again this weekend for race four in the 2017 Trust House North Island team Series.  This one will be a battle to the end with a number of climbs culminating with Admiral Hill.

This Saturday’s race, held on the outskirts of Masterton, is labelled by event organiser Jorge Sandoval as the “Queen” race of the series.

Saturday’s race will be really hard, there are some massive climbs over the 120km race before riders get to the 12km climb to the finish at the top of Admiral hill.  First on the menu is the short, sharp Millar’s Road hill climb, from there riders turn their attention to the testing 6 kilometres Te Wharau hill and continue racing towards Limeworks hill.

After Limeworks, riders travel via Lees Pakaraka Road towards the finish at the top of the gruelling Admiral Hill in Gladstone, a 12km climb to an altitude of almost 500 meters above sea level.  One thing is certain, this week’s race will be crucial for all riders.

“This is the race everyone has been waiting for, the mountains with a top of the hill finish, this weekend we get to see who is the real hill climber of the series with only one more race to follow on December 4^th” race director Jorge Sandoval said.  “I won’t be surprised if we get a new leader after this race.  Over the years I seen lots of famous riders go backwards half way up the hill, this time won’t be different and the heat could play a major part in the race.”

Leader in the Trust House elite grade Dave Weaver will fight hard to keep his lead, while other riders to watch are the members of the Team Skoda Racing, Phiten Breadcraft team and L&M Group Ricoh teams.

In the Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton master’s grades, John Randall from Road Reparto Corse team leads his category by just ten points from Craig Hosking of the Champion System ECV team, and the whole points table could change after this race.  Masters two leader is Wellington’s Kerrin Allwood with ex Olympian Gary Anderson in second place.



DETAILS:
The fourth round of the North Island team series will be held on Saturday, November 12^th. All races starts from the Hurunuiorangi Marae in Gladstone at 10.00am and finish at the top of Admiral Hill around 1.15pm.  Elite men will complete a distance of 120km with both masters’ grades racing over a distance of 90km.