Another title for South Waikato cyclist

South Waikato sport person of the year Jim Mcmurray has once again added to his impressive list of titles.

The Tirau cyclist, who has a significant list of accomplishments to his name including winning the National Long Distance Time Trial M4 age group four years in a row, has now won the Union Cycliste Internationale Gran Fondo World Series masters time trial final on Australia’s Rottnest Island. The win makes him world champion.

He also came second in the masters road race in Perth during the same event to take home a silver medal.

With 396 riders from 30 different countries battled for 17 different world titles in the time trail in their respective age groups Mcmurray, who started racing when he was 16, said competition was tough this year.

‘‘Masters is open to 55 to 60 year olds and there were 45 riders from 15 countries in my time trial which is known as the Race of Truth,’’ he said.

‘‘Everyone starts one minute apart and whoever covers the set distance the fastest wins so it’s pretty significant that I was a minute faster than Dzimitry Buben from Belarus and Michael Pfeil from Germany who are both ex-world champions in the discipline.’’ He was also faster than the younger 50 to 54-year-old age group by more than half a minute. His winning time of 26 minutes and 8 seconds meant he covered the distance at the average speed of 44.8 kph.

Mcmurray said the road race, which was attended by over 1,500 in their respective categories, was also challenging.

‘‘In the road race there were 128 riders from 22 different countries in my race alone and the competition in that event is getting better every year too so you have to be motivated and chasing that ultimate prize all the time,’’ he said.

He said he couldn’t be happier with his accomplishments.

‘‘Im not an emotional guy but holy s*** it was pretty special listening to the New Zealand anthem, especially after having to listen to the Australian anthem so many times,’’ he laughed.

Mcmurray has also qualified for the World Championships in August next year but in the meantime he will be preparing for several New Zealand based events which he hopes will put him in good stead for another successful achievement.