Heavy Hamish outrides the whippets
Hamish Bond happily admits he’s the heaviest cyclist going round at the moment.
That didn’t stop the two-time Olympic rowing champion from beating WorldTour professional George Bennett at his own game to clinch victory in the men’s time trial at the elite road national championships.
Having returned to rowing ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Bond was a surprise starter in yesterday’s race in Cambridge but he finished strongly to beat Bennett by 15 seconds, posting a winning time of 46mins 52.95secs.
Last year’s champion and hot favourite Patrick Bevin was a notable absence, having been forced to skip the event due to a recent heart scare.
Bond, who took up cycling and won a medal at the Commonwealth Games, was granted two days off his Rowing New Zealand programme to compete in Cambridge.
But he showed he still has plenty of power in the legs, producing a strong finish to reclaim the national title he first won in 2018.
‘‘I’m clocking about 93 kilos at the moment so I’d be surprised if there’s anyone out there in cycling heavier at the moment,’’ Bond said, comparing himself to the ‘‘whippet’’ Bennett at 58kg. ‘‘I had to push out considerably more power to go the same speed as
George.’’
Bond, currently part of the New Zealand men’s eight aiming to qualify for this year’s Olympics, said he thought about entering the road cycling nationals only a couple of months ago.
‘‘I was a little bit injured during the summer so spent a bit of time mainly on an exercise bike. I thought ‘my fitness isn’t too bad, maybe I should give nationals a go’.
‘‘Pretty pleased with how it felt today – probably not as aerodynamic as I have been, but got the watts out, which was what was needed today.’’
■ Teresa Adam clocked 26:32.65 to win the elite women’s race while the under23 divisions were won by Finn FisherBlack and Ella Harris.