Manfeild 6 Hour Challenge. 21st of May
The next Bike Manawatu fun day out is the Manfeild 6 Hour Challenge which has been a massive success since it began 10 years ago. Riders have thoroughly enjoyed the day wether doing the solo or in a team. Last year approximately 300 rider were involved. If you haven’t already, be sure you organise a team or yourself to ride by registering for this event on the BikeManawatu.co.nz website.
It’s Been a Busy week in Cycling.
We thank Steve Stannard for his weekly articles in the Manawatu Standard News Paper. This week covered some of our club’s successes.
The biggest sporting event in New Zealand in years, the World Masters Games, was in Auckland last week, with cycling events from mountain biking to road, and track. Manawatu had three riders who produced a number of podium performances.
On the track, Megan Blatchford-Peck won gold in the women’s (50-54) track sprint and silver in the 500m time trial.
On the road, Neil Pollock won bronze in the (75-79) 20km time trial and Neville Weir won a well-deserved bronze in the 55-59 20km time trial.
Grant Haggett was sixth in men’s (40-44) 750m time trial.
In the road race on Sunday, Ian Eagle was fourth in the (35-39) 95km road race and Cliff Hughes was 14th in the (50-54) 79km road race.
Te Awamutu Junior Tour
Also at the weekend was an event at the other end of the age spectrum; the Te Awamutu junior two-day tour.
Manawatu was well represented in almost all the many grades, each of which was stacked with the best junior riders in New Zealand in big fields.
In the under-15 girls event, Rosie O’Brien was fifth on final general classification (GC) at the end of the tour, but also won the sprint ace jersey.
Our under-15 boys, Ewan Cousins, Draas Caldwell, and Fergus Lloyd, were eighth, ninth and 11th on GC respectively.
In the under-17 boys Ethan Craine was 16th in the final GC at the end of the two days of racing and Aiden Jones was 33rd.
Our under-U19 women, Libby Arbuckle, Connie O’Brien and Samara Fenn were fifth, ninth and 18th on GC.
Emily Shearman was riding well, including finishing fifth in the time trial, but crashed in the sprint in the last stage. Emily was OK, but couldn’t complete the race.
The open women’s race, run alongside the under-19 women’s event, saw Deb Paine fourth on GC and winner of the queen of the mountain jersey. Lizzie Stannard was sixth on GC in her first race back after her accident.
In the men’s under-19 race, Madi Hartley-Brown was eighth, Dylan Simpson 10th, and Thomas Stannard 33rd on GC at the end of a hard-fought race, but one marred by cancellation of the last stage due to traffic issues.
Overseas Riders
Robert Stannard was second in the Toscana Terra di Ciclismo Eroica two-day tour in Italy, his first podium for his 2017 European campaign.
In the same race, riding for the New Zealand team, Alex West unfortunately crashed out on the white gravel section of the race, the same roads used in the Strade Biache Pro-Tour race earlier in the year.
Campbell Stewart’s United States campaign has also started, but was marred with a crash which saw him need a trip to the hospital.
We understand that Campbell is OK and already back on his bike ready for the next event.
NZ Road Cycling Club Championships
This weekend, the NZ road cycling season reaches a finale, with the national club championships being held in Cambridge.Bike Manawatu have a big number of riders heading north and we wish them and their support teams a safe and successful tour.