Round the Mountain sets off for 113th year
Starting numbers are down but the organiser of New Zealand’s longest running handicap cycle race believes it would continue long into the future.
The Taranaki Round the Mountain Cycle Classic will be held tomorrow with 45 confirmed entrants starting off in five different time slots.
In its 113th year, the race has attracted cyclists from throughout the North Island.
Race spokesperson Paul Duynhoven said the numbers were down on last year with road closures on Mt Messenger and the unfortunate timing of several other events.
“We really appreciate the support of key sponsors and local riders. We will keep going and keep pushing the fact our race is always the first Sunday in April, so people know when it is on.”
Well-performed Whanganui veteran Glenn Haden would start as one of the favourites in the scratch group chasing six minutes to the break group and 51 minutes to the front group.
He would have young club mate Finnegan Murphy for company. Finnegan won the Under-23 classification at the New Zealand Cycle Classic in January and was an up-and-coming rider.
A number of local riders – David Goodall, Shaun Williams, Peter Connole, Tim Connole, Gonzalo Peinado and Scott Mullaly – would be off six minutes in the break group.
The race would start at 8am from New Plymouth’s Spotswood College before the cyclists travel down Surf Highway 45 until they turned off at Okato.
The field would continue through to Cardiff where they turned off and headed north before they eventually finished at New Plymouth Raceway.
The leading riders were expected to finish the 130km circuit in about three hours and 15 minutes.