Gutsy ride earns road race title
Crash in final lap didn’t stop Te Awamutu rider from clinching win
Eltje Malzbender has shown tremendous heart and tenacity to be crowned World Champion in the Women’s T1 Road Race after crashing on the final lap at the UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in the Netherlands.
The Te Awamutu rider held a 48-second lead over the Canadian, before taking a spill which almost cost her the race.
“I got it wrong, I didn’t lean inwards like you do on the trike and then fell off to the left side and they tell me within 30 seconds I was back on the bike, that was certainly an even bigger success than winning.”
Malzbender returned to her bike and even managed to increase her lead again slightly in the dying stages of the 22.2km race to win in a time of 51.46, 12 seconds ahead of Shelley Gautier of Canada.
The crash cracked one of her teeth and required stitches, proving just how determined Eltje was to finish.
“Eltje’s ride was just so gutsy, the course doesn’t suit trikes at all with the camber of the road and its technicality of the roads,” said Paralympics New Zealand Para Cycling Performance head coach Stuart McDonald.
The victory caps off a successful week for Malzbender who won the world title in the time trial a couple of days earlier.
“My first goal was to win the time trial, the second goal was to win the road race, and the third was in the time trial, after factoring in times etc to post a time that would have won the T2 category, which I did.”
Malzbender started her time trial conservatively before building a solid lead over the two-lap race, increasing her advantage at every time check and eventually finishing in 44 minutes 56.16 seconds, over one and a half minutes ahead of the silver medallist from Russia.
“It was fantastic, everything went to plan,” said Malzbender. “Riding with my home coach Blandy was good because he knows exactly what’s happening with me and whether I can go harder or not. So, he was riding behind me and shouted commands to me, so it was really cool,” she added.
“I just love being outdoors and doing something physical, I like to exert myself, and to challenge myself a bit.”
It was New Zealand’s best performance at a World Championship, finishing with three world titles, seventh on the gold medal table and eighth overall on the medal table just behind the USA and in front of Great Britain. The public is invited to welcome home the New Zealand Cycling team this Saturday at 8.05 am at Auckland Airport. The team will be on board Air New Zealand flight NZ90.