One more challenge for Stewart

After the lofty highs of winning an Olympic medal and a stint on the European roads, top Kiwi cyclist Campbell Stewart is preparing for one more ride before taking a wellearned break.

The Palmerston North rider is in Auckland in managed isolation, having returned from Europe last week, and he is getting ready to ride the Tour of Southland.

After winning silver in the omnium at the Tokyo Olympics in August, Stewart, 23, went straight to Belgium where he joined Kiwi team Black Spoke Pro Cycling.

Also in the team are Aaron Gate and James Oram, as well as Manawatu¯ riders Joel Yates and Luke Mudgway.

‘‘It’s been pretty cool to go over there with them,’’ Stewart said. ‘‘There was a whole lot of Kiwis racing there, helping each other get results. They were over there for about six months.

‘‘I spent the last couple of months with them racing. I managed to get a couple of stage wins at one of the races. I had a couple of other results here and there and showed a bit of promise moving onto the road.’’

While in isolation he has been using an indoor trainer and doing some rides on the online platform Zwift.

He gets out next week and will head to Invercargill to start the Tour of Southland.

‘‘I’ll go race in that and hopefully I will be able to transfer a bit of form over from Europe and hold it through [managed isolation] as well, and it will just be a fun race down there,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s just one of those ones – a week that can be pretty brutal with the weather, but you end up racing with mates from all over the country.’’

After the Tour of Southland he will have a proper break off the bike for a few weeks and enjoy the New Zealand summer.

Stewart has been going for a long time with the Olympic campaign and then heading to Belgium the day after he finished racing in Tokyo. So he was looking forward to celebrating with friends and family when he finally returned home.

‘‘I sent my medal home [after Tokyo] and that’s getting handed around. Mum and Dad are taking it places for people to see it.’’

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, the Olympics had been different to what he expected, but he said he would have to wait for the next one.

Winning the medal was a huge achievement and he said it was a taxing event.

‘‘I’ve done world championships, Commonwealth Games and plenty of World Cups, and it was just another level.

‘‘It just meant so much more than everything I have ever done in my whole life.

‘‘The heart rate was up higher than it’s been before, even before the race started. It just shows how much it means.’’

Stewart would have ridden the world track championships, which started this week in France, but he wasn’t able to get a spot in managed isolation later in the year.

He had booked his spot months ago, through the luck of the draw like everyone else, so took his chance to get back to New Zealand now.

Competition newcomers Shannon have announced their arrival on the men’s interclub division-one scene.

Shannon smashed last year’s thirdplace getters Johnston Park 15-8 with Grant Pratt and 1-5 year singles champion Phil Gausel winning 25-8 in the pairs. It was a return to form after a big loss to Takaro in the first round a week ago.

In other matches, Foxton and Beach beat Bulls 22-1, North End Black beat Takaro 14-9, and North End Grey beat Palmerston North 14-8.

The women’s division one got under way, with favourites Palmerston North beating Foxton and Beach 14-7.

Takaro beat Hokowhitu 21 to minus 7 when the latter defaulted the singles.

North End Black was too strong for club-mates North End Grey, at 21-1.

In the division-two men’s grade Takaro beat Johnston Park 23-1, Palmerston North Blue beat Palmerston Gold 16-7, and Hokowhitu beat North End 15-8.

In the division-three any-gender competition, North End beat Palmerston North 10-2, Shannon beat Bulls 10-2, Johnston Park Gold beat Johnston Park Maroon 12-0 and Foxton and Beach beat Takaro 10-2.

In the year 1-5 competition, Takaro Orange beat Foxton and Beach 8-7, Takaro Black beat North End Grey 14-1, North End Black beat Hokowhitu 16-0, and Ashhurst drew 8-all with Palmerston North.

New record for entries

The first Bowls Manawatu¯ open event of the season is this weekend with the mixed pairs at North End and Hokowhitu. Finals are on Monday at Hokowhitu. There are 48 teams entered, a new record.

Teams to watch include Ian Monaghan and Fiona Mancer, who are already in the Ka¯piti mixed pairs semifinal, and Scotty McGavin and

Mere Fryer, who are also in the Ka¯piti semifinals. Both teams look hard to stop.Defending champions Sharon Sims and Mark Noble will be looking for a repeat.

Stephen Love teams up with Erika Goldsworthy, while Jason Hawe teams up with Honey Giblett, and both of these teams will push most others.

Weekend matches

Next weekend there are interclub matches and a representative match against Wellington in Wellington.

The 1-8 year Manawatu¯ team is playing Wairarapa in Palmerston North.