Paris Olympian Kim Cadzow will take two champion’s jerseys back to her WorldTour team after claiming the Cycling New Zealand Elite National Road Race title in Timaru today.
The 23-year-old, who rides for EF Education-Oatly WorldTour team, added the road race victory to her win after yesterday’s time trial.
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After sitting safely in the peloton for most of the race, while EF Education-Oatly teammate Henrietta Christie marked any attacks upfront, Cadzow pushed off the front of the pack and used her undoubted climbing skills to clear away to win in 3:14.42.
She finished 24 seconds clear of Lidl-Trek WorldTour professional and Paris Olympic teammate, Niamh Fisher-Black who edged Hamilton policewoman and UCI Esports World Champion, Kate McCarthy.
“My teammate Henry (Henrietta) was amazing all day, attacking, putting everyone in the box in the right moment and gave me a lot of confidence and just told me to go,” said Cadzow.
Former under-23 MTB world champion, Sammie Maxwell showed her capabilities on the road when she pushed clear after a sedate first lap, opening a lead of nearly two minutes before the peloton caught her at the halfway mark.
The peloton eased to a comfortable pace until Cadzow took her chance to push off the front. The chasers worked but Cadzow was too strong, increasing the advantage to 35s approaching the hill, pushing that to over a minute and despite a late charge led by Fisher-Black, McCarthy and Wyllie, the leader had enough in the tank to win by 24 seconds.
She follows on from former WorldTour professional, Georgia Williams who also claimed the road race-time trial championship double, which she achieved on four occasions.
“Winning two titles has not really sunk in yet. It is pretty incredible, I think. I had a bit of a hard time in the summer so I didn’t expect to come away with this one this time,” said Cadzow.
Southland’s Rhylee Akeroyd, riding for Meridian Blue-99 Bikes, benefitting from good support from the likes of teammate Kirsty Watts, latched on to the back of the top-10 elites to claim the under-23 title.
She finished in 3:15.38 in 11th place overall, and importantly 1:20 clear of second placed Kirsty Watts from Christchurch and Black Matic-Tinelli rider Ava Maddison from Auckland who was 5:19 behind.
“This year I’ve learned how important it is to have good support people around you. My coach is Kate McIlroy and Reon Nolan and they have been instrumental in this win for me and I definitely couldn’t have done it without them,” said Akeroyd.
“It feels amazing. It’s what I came here to do. It’s been a pretty rough last 12 months for me. Last year I was standing on the sidelines watching this race and unsure if I would ever race my bike again so to be here today and won my first national jersey is amazing.”
The success for the Black Magic-Tinelli team continued with Marlborough rider Neve McKenzie from Fairhall prevailing in the uphill sprint to claim the Under-19 women’s title from teammate Holly Bishop (Auckland).
Ohope’s Lilly Collombet was third 12 seconds back in the 69km race over three circuits of the course.
The pack rode together for the first lap before the pressure went on with McKenzie, Bishop, Collombet and Marett together for the final climb before the Marlborough rider proved strongest with just 12 seconds separating the top three.
The under-19 men’s title went to Clevedon’s Ben Archer, who prevailed from a five-strong bunch who battled up the hill for the final time.
Archer was strongest in the sprint from local rider Oscar Talbot, Joshua Rowe (Cambridge), Liam Lloyd (Counties Manukau) and Adrew Free (Christchurch).
The riders battled 118km with five laps of the same course with Auckland talent Harry Shannon pushing the pace to string out the bunch. He was part of a seven-strong split but the pace dropped and they were caught, with 20 riders in the peloton after two laps.
Shannon edged clear again only to be caught on the hill ,as did Rowe before Archer made his winning move.
The final day of the championships tomorrow will feature the under-23 and elite men’s road race over a gruelling 190kms.
Results:
Women Elite, 118ikm, 5 laps: Kim Cadzow (EF Education Oatly, Wanaka) 3:14.42, 1; Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek, Nelson) at 24s, 2; Kate McCarthy (Hamilton) at 26s, 3; Ella Wyllie (LIV AlUla Jayco, Auckland) at 31s, 4; Henrietta Christie (EF Education-Oatley, Lincoln) at 35s, 5.
Under-23, 118km: Rhylee Akeroyd (Meridian Blue-99 Bikes, Southland) 3:15.38, 1; Kirsty Watts (Black Magic-Tinelli, Swannanoa) at 25s, 2; Ava Maddison (Black Magic-Tinelli, Auckland) at 4:23, 3.
Under-19, 68kms: Neve McKenzie (Black Magic Tinelli, Fairhall) 1:56:28, 1; Holly Bishop (Black Magic Tinelli, Auckland) at 5s, 2; Lilly Collombet (Whakatane CC, Ohope) at 12s, 3; Kyra Marett (Cycling SC, Waitohi) at 26s, 4; Nina Worrall (Black Magic Tinelli, Auckland) at 4:28, 5.
Men Under-19, 118kms: Ben Archer (FMWC Societa Sportiva, Clevedon) 3:06.22, 1; Oscar Talbot (Cycling SC, Pleasant Valley) at 3s, 2; Joshua Rowe (Te Awamutu Sports, Cambridge) at 4s, 3; Liam Lloyd (Couplands Racing, Counties-Manukau) at 9s, 4; Andre Free (Canterbury Track, Christchurch) at 15s, 5.