Grand masters pair leave pack in their wake
HOMETOWN heroes Tim O’Leary and Shaun Portegys continued their supremacy in The Pioneer race yesterday.
The Central Otago riders hold a commanding lead in the grand master 50plus category after four days of the extreme mountainbike event.
The pair finished in four hours, 16 minutes as the race pedalled into Bannockburn.
There is now daylight between the dominant pair and the chasing pack. The next best in the grand masters are fellow Kiwis Blair Stuthridge and Neil Sutherland, more than 30 minutes back.
The small matter of a flat tyre did not break the leading pair’s momentum, as they restored the tyre in under a minute.
O’Leary (53), of Queenstown, said they were lucky to sort it so quickly.
‘‘It could’ve been worse,’’ he said.
Yesterday’s stage three trek, which took the field from Alexandra to Bannockburn, was not a stroll in the park for the pair.
It proved to be an acid test for the likes of Portegys (50), of Alexandra, who has completed eight Coast to Coasts in his time. He said it was a hard day at the office.
‘‘I was surprised by how brutal it was.
‘‘I haven’t been that buggered in a long time.’’
Overall, the duo sit in eighth spot.
Today’s Bannockburn stage is set to impose another serious examination of riders with more than 3500m of climbing.
Familiarity with the course could be crucial for the local team. O’Leary said pulling back during the first climb would be important.
‘‘I’ve actually done the main climb of the [Bannockburn] stage three times. If you come in the back climb fatigued, then you’re just going to blow up on it.’’
O’Leary and Portegys will call on all their experience and hometown knowledge over the next two days.
Elsewhere, the Australian open women’s team of Brodie Chapman and Briony Mattocks were the big movers yesterday as Central Otago turned on another stunner.
They won their first stage of the event and in the process took five minutes out of the lead held by Kiwi duo Kate McIlroy and Amy Hollamby.
The New Zealand pair of Tim Rush and Michael Vink extended their lead over South Africa’s Alan Gordon and Timmothy Hammond to a mammoth 50 minutes.