New tour leader in NZ Cycle Classic

Media release

Wednesday, January 25th 2017

NEW TOUR LEADER IN THE NEW ZEALAND CYCLE CLASSIC

- WILD WEATHER MAKES FOR A WILD RACE -

Wild weather today had a huge bearing on stage four of the New Zealand Cycle Classic held in the Wairarapa today.

Not only did it result in a new tour leader emerging, in the shape of recently crowned New Zealand Road Cycle Champion Joseph Cooper (IsoWhey Sports Wellness Australia); but it also JLT Condor claim their second stage win in as many days with a blistering sprint to the finish by Jonathan Mould and six riders DNF.

Today’s 142km stage four of the Cycle Classic began in Masterton and headed south down SH2 through Carterton, Greytown and Featherston before heading around Lake Wairarapa back to the wine village of Martinborough. Coined “The Five Towns” it was a new addition to the Tour as part of its 30th Anniversary.

The race began in drizzly conditions from Masterton, but the weather quickly deteriorated and saw riders huddle together in a tight group. Even though there was lots of action in the peloton with several riders trying to establish a break, there was no success until JLT’s Jonathon Mould made a break away about 40 minutes in whilst heading down Western Lake Road in South Wairarapa. Mould established a 51 second lead on the group, but was caught on the East West Access Road by Jordan Kerby, Logan Griffin and Ollie Jones.

At this point, horizontal rain and fierce cross winds saw riders get blown across the road and four riders abandon the race. The peloton also fractured several times.

By the time the riders turned into Lake Ferry Road heading north to Martinborough, the rain eased off and two groups - one including Blindz Direct Hamish Bond, emerged in front riding powerfully through the town square. At the 100km mark, the two groups merged to become a lead group of nine riders which were driven forward largely by Cooper.

On the return loop back into Martinborough and with 20km to go Cooper, teammate Neil Van der Ploeg, Robert McCarty, Mould, Kerby, Griffin, Jones and Bond raced powerfully and were 1m 13 seconds ahead of the group which included New Zealand team member James Oram, in the yellow jersey. As the time gap dropped to under one minute, New Zealand put the pressure on the peloton but the lead group put down the hammer and split into two groups with Cooper, Mould and Kerby roaring off like a freight train to the finish line. McCarty and Bond finished fourth and fifth place respectively 34 seconds down on the winner while Griffin was two seconds behind. The rest of the field followed in dribs and drabs with the main peloton a staggering 19min 40 seconds down on the leaders

Mould was thrilled to take the stage win and said he thrived in the wild weather.

“It’s my favourite bit to be honest, the wind. It feels nice to get stuck in like that and then finish it off with the sprint. I just gave everything I had left and got the stage win so I am really happy,” said Mould. “They are probably some of the strongest winds I’ve ridden in. You get some in Holland on the coast but these were impressive. It was a tough one here today.”

Even though Mould rode aggressively the entire race today, he was quick to pay tribute to his team mates including McCarty and Kiwi Alex Frame, the latter who won yesterday’s stage.

Frame echoed his sentiment.

“It was good it was hard and really windy at the start and with the small roads and the rain it didn’t really settle down for about 80km and then everyone chilled out for a bit. Then it was on. In fact it was on all day with the wind,” said Frame. “We got our Welsh man up the road and he was going really well and we just backed him. Me and Steve were in the other group and just trusted he would get the job done and he did.”

On being presented the yellow jersey, Cooper was full of humour. He gave a huge shout out to the Cervelo bikes he had ridden on and thanked team mate Van der Ploeg, whom he described as “waving his arms about” while racing. Cooper said he would now ride to defend the yellow jersey.

“We are here to win, that’s our plan.”

The New Zealand Cycle Classic, the only Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) sanctioned race to be held in New Zealand in 2017, concludes tomorrow with the fifth and final 120km stage. This involves 12 laps of a 10km circuit on the outskirts of Masterton.

JLT have already thrown down the gauntlet and are determined to make it three stage wins in a row.

“We want to get another win for Alex Frame or he’s fast, or even Ed Clancy,” said Mould. “We definitely want to crack on and keep winning.”

Being held simultaneously is Huri Huri: Wairarapa’s Bike Festival which celebrates the Wairarapa’s bike-friendly roads, tracks and trails; the people that ride on them and the bikes they ride. The 2017 Festival (www.hurihuri.co.nz) has a variety of events and activities held across the region, catering to all levels of involvement in biking and to all ages. These include the Town to Tide multisport race; the Castlepoint Station family fun ride; Pedal for Parkinsons road cycle; mountainbike workshops and a kids programme.

For more information please visit www.cycletournz.com.

Stage 4 Winners.

1. Jonathan Mould (JLT Condor)

2. Jordan Kerby (Cobra( Interbuild Racing)

3. Joseph Cooper (IsoWhey Sports Wellness Australia)

Classification winners from Stage 4

U23 Jersey: Logan Griffin (Oliver’s Real Food Racing)

King of the Mountain: James Oram (New Zealand National team)

Sprint Ace: Ryan Thomas (Oliver’s Real Food Racing)

Yellow Jersey: Joseph Cooper.

ENDS

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