Elite Series NZL Round 2: Hokitika

An impressive start into the Elite Series for one of Team Budget's boys: Daniel Barry (TotalPOS) with his second consecutive victory after winning a tough "Bluespur Classic" around Hokitika! Keagan Girdlestone (Scotty Browns) and Brad Evans (Calder Stewart) completed the podium, as this trio escaped from the bunch about 21km before finish.

Heavy crosswinds between 60-70kmh made for a brutal day on an already challenging loop (three laps). The peloton would go into pieces in the final lap, but still managed to pull back an early breakaway (6 riders) as well as the mid-race attacking group with Alex Hooper (Breads of Europe) and Jerome Inglis (Scotty Browns).

The crucial moves would then happen in this final lap: Evans and Barry went clear from the bunch on the steepest climb, soon followed by Girdlestone. The trio opened up a comfortable gap quickly, as some other favorites like James Williamson (NZ Cycling) failed with their attempts to join this winning group.. Barry proved his strength on the flat sectors, when he soloed away from the leading group 7.5km before finish to hold on to a 20"-gap til the finish.

A chasing group with Jason Allen (Scotty Browns), Fraser Hewett (Breads of Europe) and Alex McGregor (Calder Stewart) finished two minutes later, yet 20 seconds ahead of the first bigger group with Williamson as the most disappointing title-contender today.

Hooper, Inglis and Lindsay attacking the bunch 60km before finish..

Teams like Calder Stewart and NZ Cycling Project brought them back though!

Evans, Barry and Girdlestone going clear in the final lap..

Barry launching his winning move on a flat sector!

The chasing dup entering the finishing stretch in Hokitika..

..with no chance to catch Barry, who makes it two in a row!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Daniel Barry	TotalPos Cycling	3h15'11
2	Keagan Girdlestone	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 21
3	Brad Evans	Calder Stewart Team	s.t.
4	Jason Allen	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 2'09
5	Fraser Hewett	Breads of Europe/AaP	s.t.
6	Alex McGregor	Calder Stewart Team	s.t.
7	Cameron Karwowski	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	+ 2'29
8	Matthew Zenovich	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	s.t.
9	Scott Mullaly	TotalPos Cycling	s.t.
10	Logan Mort	GMC Development	s.t.

sutty68 wrote:
Lets hope its all legal and above board

Elite Series NZL Round 3: Kaikoura

With Series-leader Daniel Barry not at the start, his Team Budget teammate Sam Horgan (Benchmark Homes) took out the third round in Hokitika thanks to a stunning solo move from 20km outside the finish! Keagan Girdlestone (Scotty Browns) had to settle for another runner-up, while Alex Hooper (Breads of Europe) rode to an impressive third place.

Again tough conditions (crosswinds up to 45kmh) and a challenging parcours would once more make for an interesting race: an early breakaway group with Aaron Gate (NZ Cycling Project) led by a minute, when a mid-race attacking group of 4 riders already caught up to them. Hooper as the most notable name there - attacking like he did in the previous two events, too.

The bunch wasn't too far behind though and some big guns attacked 32km before finish: Sam Horgan, Cam Karwowski (H&J) and Keagan Girdlestone. The trio went clear from the bunch quickly, where James Williamson (NZ Cycling) and Brad Evans (Calder) would try to follow a few minutes later.

The duo would struggle to bridge across the leading group, where Horgan/Girdlestone joined the early break soon. Horgan kept pacing and dropped them all at the 20km mark! Hooper/Girdlestone built a 2-men-chase, but they had no chance against Horgan, who would win the race by more than a minute on Girdlestone eventually!

Karwowski, Horgan, Girdlestone attacking 31km before finish!

Williamson and Evans trying to jump behind, empty-handed..

Horgan dropping Hooper and the leading group with 20km to go!

Second chasing group with Williamson and Hewett, too far behind Horgan..

First chasing group with Girdlestone and Hooper, too far behind Horgan..

..who celebrates a dominating win at the finish up Ingles Drives!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Samuel Horgan	Benchmark Homes Team	3h02'36
2	Keagan Girdlestone	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 1'14
3	Alex Hooper	Breads of Europe/AaP	+ 1'52
4	Michael Vink	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 2'09
5	Fraser Hewett	Breads of Europe/AaP	+ 2'17
6	James Williamson	NZ Cycling Project	s.t.
7	Chris Nicholson	Benchmark Homes Team	s.t.
8	Jason Thomason	Rocket Switch Cycling Team	s.t.
9	Jason Allen	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
10	Marc Ryan	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.

Fraser Hewett leading the Series at half-time, thanks to some consistent scoring though lacking a race-victory. Team Budget's Barry (2 wins) and Horgan (1) both in contention for the overall win, but it's pretty obvious that also less known riders like Hewett, Allen or Hooper will stand a chance.

#INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rk	Name	Team	Points
1	Fraser Hewett	Breads of Europe/AaP	52
2	Daniel Barry	TotalPos Cycling	50
3	Keagan Girdlestone	Scotty Browns Vision System	44
4	Jason Allen	Scotty Browns Vision System	43
5	Alex Hooper	Breads of Europe/AaP	32
6	Brad Evans	Calder Stewart Team	28
7	James Williamson	NZ Cycling Project	27
8	Samuel Horgan	Benchmark Homes Team	25
9	Nicholas Ross	TotalPos Cycling	22
10	Toby Atkins	GMC Development	18
	Michael Vink	Scotty Browns Vision System	18
12	Cameron Karwowski	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	16
13	Luke Macpherson	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	15
14	Sean Finning	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	14
	Matthew Zenovich	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	14
	Alex McGregor	Calder Stewart Team	14
	Sam Lindsay	TotalPos Cycling	14

Elite Series NZL Round 4: Motueka

Sam Horgan (Benchmark Homes) went for his second consecutive victory in the Elite Series and will take over the lead from Fraser Hewett (Breads of Europe), who finished as 14th in Motueka. Horgan was by far the strongest top-favorite and went past a long surviving breakaway group, beating Anthony Chapman (NZ Cycling Project) and Logan Griffin (Armstrong Motorgroup) inside the final two kilometres.

A dangerous mid-race breakaway group with Marc Ryan/Reon Nolan (Scotty Browns), Luke Macpherson (H&J Outdoors) and Anthony Chapman would join an early escaping group with Logan Griffin and Roman van Uden (Signmakers) to build an 8-men-group then. Some pressure for teams like Benchmark Homes and Calder Stewart in particular.

Just 14km before finish, the bunch was still 1'30" in arrears and so Horgan went on the attack, aiming to repeat his strong solo-ride in the previous round. A group with former Series-leader Daniel Barry, Michael Vink, Brad Evans and James Williamson desperately tried to follow, but couldn't catch up to Horgan, who soon bridged across the leading group!

Horgan, Griffin and Chapman would then drop the remaining escapees inside the final 3km, where Griffin still held on to a small advantage. But he couldn't counter another acceleration from Horgan, who sprinted to line honours with Chapman finishing as runner-up.. Barry (8th) and Hewett (14th) would also score valuable points, but Horgan's second win will surely make for close rankings now.

Chapman, Nolan/Ryan and Macpherson attacking 48km before finish..

Horgan launching his first move with 13km remaining, going strong!

Williamson, Barry, Vink and Evans trying to jump behind Horgan..

..who soon caught up to the breakaway and pacing to go past Griffin!

Horgan attacking the leading trio with chasing group Barry/Vink still far behind..

..to go for line honours ahead of Chapman and Griffin!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Samuel Horgan	Benchmark Homes Team	3h07'17
2	Anthony Chapman	NZ Cycling Project	+ 7
3	Logan Griffin	Armstrong Motor Group	s.t.
4	Luke Macpherson	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	+ 32
5	Marc Ryan	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
6	Reon Nolan	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
7	Roman van Uden	Signmakers Cycling Team	s.t.
8	Daniel Barry	TotalPos Cycling	s.t.
9	Michael Vink	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
10	James Williamson	NZ Cycling Project	+ 50

Elite Series NZL Round 5: Nelson

After two wins from both Daniel Barry and Sam Horgan, we finally got a new winner in this fifth round in the Elite Series: Brad Evans (Calder Stewart) held off a rather big chasing group to take out the 'Tasman Classic' through Nelson. A strong finishing Marc Ryan (Scotty Browns) came in 2nd ahead of new Series-leader Sam Horgan (Benchmark Homes).

An early breakaway group with good old Gordon McCauley (GMC Development) hardly stood a chance against the big guns today. When Brad Evans would launch his winning move 18km before finish, the peloton would desperately try to pull him back - thus allowing no more escapees or attackers to stay clear.

A few top-favorites like Michael Vink (Scotty Browns), James Williamson (NZ Cycling) and Sam Horgan would try to bridge across a 28"-gap to solo leading Evans, but they remained as part of a 16-men-group, which would eventually sprint for the runner-up only.

With just the 'Hell of South' (cobbled classic) to come, we will surely get an idea of who's still in the mix for the individual's title at this point. Stay stuned for the rankings update!

The man in yellow: living legend Gordon McCauley!

Evans attacking the bunch about 18km before finish..

Vink, Williamson and Horgan trying to catch up to Evans with 5km to go..

Empty-handed, it came down to a 16-men-group fighting for 2nd place..

Evans holding on to a small gap to celebrate his first victory this year!

Horgan's close 3rd behind Ryan is still enough to take the Series-lead!

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Brad Evans	Calder Stewart Team	2h18'02
2	Marc Ryan	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 19
3	Samuel Horgan	Benchmark Homes Team	s.t.
4	James Williamson	NZ Cycling Project	s.t.
5	Alex McGregor	Calder Stewart Team	s.t.
6	Sam Lindsay	TotalPos Cycling	s.t.
7	Michael Vink	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
8	Joe Chapman	NZ Cycling Project	s.t.
9	Scott Mullaly	TotalPos Cycling	s.t.
10	Jason Allen	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.

Elite Series NZL Round 6.1: Faringdon 'Hell of South'

The Elite Series concluded with the cobbled 'Hell of South' and the strongest men fought out a thrilling sprint for line honours: Matthew Zenovich (H&J's Outdoor) took out this brutal race then, beating Alex Hooper (Breads of Europe) and Michael Vink (Scotty Browns)! As for the individual's rankings, none of the most serious contenders (Daniel Barry, Fraser Hewett and Series-leader Sam Horgan) scored points.

Team Scotty Browns with top-favorites like Vink and guest-rider Hayden Roulston went for an aggressive tactic, as they already placed Reon Nolan in an early 5-men-breakaway. This move would pay off, as all those five would eventually score a Top-10 result at the end of the day.

The crucial moves for the win happend on the penultimate cobbles-sector 30km before finish: Zenovich and Hooper attacked the bunch, aiming to bridge across a 2'40"-gap on the escaping group. Vink was the next favorite jumping behind quickly.

Zenovich/Hooper joined the early break close to the final cobbles, where they easily dropped those five then. Vink, accompanied by Jacob Grieve (Calder Stewart) in the meantime, went past the early escapees a few seconds later to finally join the new leading duo just 2km before finish!

He almost caught up, when Zenovich would kick off the sprint under the kite, holding off both Hooper and Vink til the finish! Grieve came close, too, but wasn't in the mix for the win. World Tour-rider Roulston was one of only a few more riders dropping the bunch on the cobbles, but he went far too late to be a threat for the victory today. He finished 9th eventually.. That's all good news for Series-leader Sam Horgan (a non-factor today), as all remaining title-contenders (like Hewett, Barry or Allen) missed out on points here!

Vink trying to jump behind Zenovich/Hooper on the penultimate cobbles..

Zenovich/Hooper dropping the early break on the final cobbled sector!

With Vink going past the breakaway, but not yet catching the best duo..

Vink and Grieve closing the gap with the finish in Faringdon approaching..

Zenovich and Hooper accelerating once Vink managed to join them!

And so Zenovich went for a prestigious victory ahead of Hooper/Vink!

Roulston sprinted to a rather quiet 9th place eventually..

#FINAL RESULTS

1	Matthew Zenovich	H&J's Outdoor World Avanti+	2h53'40
2	Alex Hooper	Breads of Europe/AaP	s.t.
3	Michael Vink	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.
4	Jacob Grieve	Fitlab	+ 21
5	Logan Griffin	Armstrong Motor Group	+ 1'28
6	Jack Marryatt	Calder Stewart Team	+ 2'05
7	Ryan Wills	Signmakers Cycling Team	+ 2'33
8	Mike Smart	Rocket Switch Cycling Team	+ 2'41
9	Hayden Roulston	Scotty Browns Vision System	+ 4'05
10	Reon Nolan	Scotty Browns Vision System	s.t.