Longest day at office as pair break their ducks
Dougal Allan and Simone Maier have won the men’s and women’s Coast to Coast longest day titles. After finishing second in three previous efforts, Allan finally broke his duck to cross the finish line in 11h 15m 00s.
In a field that didn’t include any previous winners, the men’s world championship was always going to be tough to call — and it turned out to be one of the closest in recent memory.
The Wanaka-based competitor fended off a stern challenge from runner-up Sam Manson, of Christchurch (11h 30m 04s), and Australian Alex Hunt (11h 39m 34s), who finished third, with the trio within minutes of each other halfway through the kayaking stage.
It was always likely to come down to where Allan, one of the strongest cyclists in the field, would end up out of the water. And when he finished the kayaking stage in front, he made no mistake in the cycle to Christchurch and stormed home for his first win.
With son Flynn sitting on his lap, the 33-year-old said coming back to race in his first Coast to Coast since 2013 was a chance to make amends and set an example for his kids.
“Flynn here and Matilda [Allan’s daughter], they’re my world,” he said. “A big part of coming back was to set an example to them that you’ve got to reach for your goals, and success is never guaranteed, but I just wanted them to see I had the courage to come and have a crack.
“It has been six years since my last shot at it and . . . I was probably guilty of fearing failure in a way. I sort of just had to get over myself and I thought the success in these sorts of things is having a crack.
“It’s really a career highlight. This race, it means a lot to me, and I’ve been trying to win it for the best part of a decade.”
The women’s race was equally eventful, with Christchurch-based Maier also becoming a first-time winner, beating four-time champion Elina Ussher, of Finland (13h 07m 10s), and Ireland’s Fiona Downling (13h 09m 17s), who placed second and third respectively.
Maier initially struggled for words after crossing the finish line in 12h 58m 36s, finally winning the championship at her third attempt.
“I don’t know [how I feel]. I need to give it some time,” she said. “I put a lot of time and effort into this event and I know it’s going to be hard.
“There was a lot of expectation on me, I guess a lot of pressure on myself. So to finally win the Coast is pretty amazing . . . I guess third time lucky.”
It didn’t, however, go smoothly for Maier, who crashed her bike into a van before the kayaking stage, and was then given a two-minute penalty for an incorrect transition.
“I was just smashing it down, and the next thing, there was a corner and I was just flying . . . next thing, I didn’t make the corner,” she said about the crash. “I was like, ‘oh s***, my race is over’.”
But she was able to trust her strength on the bike and finished strongly.
“I was like ‘I need to put the hammer down’, and I did.”
In the two-men tandem event, All Blacks great Richie McCaw and partner Rob Nichol finished fourth in the open men’s category, improving from sixth after a difficult first day.