Vink claims race; Marryatt takes title
Michael Vink won the elite men’s race while Jake Marryatt and Mikayla Harvey won the men’s and women’s overall Calder Stewart cycling series elite titles after a brutal day of racing in the final round of the series, the Hell of the South event near Christchurch yesterday.
Vink won his third Hell of the South backing up last year’s win holding off his Mike Greer Homes team mate Sam Horgan and Team Sˇ koda Racing’s Alex West to win the elite men’s race that featured two gravel sections the elite riders tackled eight times in three hours and twenty five minutes in the Selwyn district.
‘‘It’s exactly what I wanted a week out from the Tour of Southand so I can head down there with lots of confidence,’’ Vink said.
‘‘It was just about not many any mistakes and capitalising on any luck that may come your way. ’’
The elite field was the largest and strongest the series has seen this year with Paul Odlin’s (Tineli Invitational Team) effort to repeat his overall elite series win from 10 years ago only unravel on the final gravel section two kilometres from the finish when he punctured while with the leaders.
Marryatt (Blackmax Performance) finished fifth, enough to add the elite men’s series title to his under 23 series jersey, the first time an under 23 rider has also won the elite title.
‘‘After getting second last year it’s pretty cool to win the under 23 jersey this year and as a bonus take the overall series as well,’’ Marryatt said. ‘‘It was pretty unfortunate for Paul that he punctured so close to the finish but that can be cycling, you can get some good luck and bad luck and I’m just fortunate I didn’t get any bad luck today.’’
West Coast cyclist Sharlotte Lucas (Cycle Surgery), who has won the overall series for the last three years, won her third round in a row beating Wanaka’s Harvey (Mike Greer Homes) and Karen Fulton (Freshchoice Richmond Pomeroys) from Nelson in a bunch sprint to win the women’s race in two hours and fifty nine minutes.
Lucas, who missed valuable points in the opening round as she rode as an individual, finished the series four points behind Harvey.