Harper too strong into wind at end of Cuddon series race
A strong finish saw Craig Harper take the honours when the 10th race in the Cuddon Cycling Marlborough winter/spring series was held on Saturday along the northern banks of the Wairau River.
The 50km race started at the beginning of Northbank Rd, with the turn just past Pine Valley.
The strong easterly tailwind made for high speeds in the first half of the race, leaving a few riders struggling to stick with their handicap groups, but in general these stayed well together.
Despite losing two riders, strong riding by the first break group enabled them to catch the rest of the field about 10km before the finish.
The scratch bunch struggled, losing some riders on the way. They missed getting fastest time by 10 seconds, a rare occurrence.
At the front Craig Harper, of GrapeRide 10-lap fame, showed his strength in the sprint to the line in the strong headwind, beating under-17 rider Sam Morgan and Mike Murphy.
Harper also clocked the fastest time, with Luc Cowley second and Nick Batt third, 10 seconds faster than the scratch bunch.
In the 30km short course race Liv Bishop took line honours after she and Sam Spencer rode away from their co-markers, picking up Adam Bidwell on the way back from the turn.
They managed to hold the scratch bunch off by more than two minutes. Niels van Antwerpen recorded fastest time, winning the sprint off his co-markers Andrew Bidwell and Greg Baunton.
Juniors head south
On Saturday and Sunday a number of junior club riders are in Invercargill for the annual Yunca Junior Tour of Southland, after which most will stay on for a Track Cycling Carnival at the SIT Velodrome.
Of this group, Ethan Batt and Callum Caughey are also taking part in the Oceania Track Cycling Championships the following week, where they will get to rub shoulders with some of the best riders from New Zealand and Australia.
Top Club Award (10 swimmers or fewer, top 10 of 19): 1 Selwyn (10 swimmers) 225 points, 2 Murihiku (10) 222, 3 Orca (10) 198, 4 Blenheim (5) 164, 5 Zenith (4) 145, 6 Swim Timaru (8) 129, 7 Nelson South (4) 109, 8 Collegiate (1) 84, 9 Oamaru (3) 57, 10 Kiwi (5) 31.