Westley Cleans up Points Race at Track Nats

Westley won the points race by 19 points, great race blitzing field and taking most sprints with ease.

Click here for full results and commentry at Bike NZ

Following reports form Ivar and the juniors

Big days for the riders, up before seven, breakfast and at the track at eight, gear checks and warm-up till ten, racing from 10. Sessions finish just before two, lunch and back at the track at four. Racing doesn't finish much before 10pm, home for home cooked diner at 10.30pm. Long hours but they learn a lot about track racing and how to prepare for different events.

Ivar

Day 2

The second day of racing at the National Track Championship started with an extremely cold morning. The racing began with the Elite men sprint 8th final in which ECNI rider Kyle Rika got beaten in both this and the repecharge to take him out of the competition and end his chances at a gold medal.
Next up was the under 19 men sprint qualifying. Stephen Rolfe managed to get a time of 12.384 to get 9th place just outside the mark for qualification for the next round. Ashleigh Neave rode her first competition 2000m pursuit and got 2:51.429 a great time for a first run and got her tenth place. In the under 17 boys 2000m pursuit Fraser Gough got a time of 2:33.076putting him in 18th place. Lars Hopman got 20th with a time of 2:37.126 and John Ellery got 21st with 2:37.786. All of these times were personal bests for the young riders.
Later that day Stephen Rolfe raced in the U19 8000m scratch qualification and got 7th allowing him to continue on to tomorrows final.
Ivar Hopman manager for the ECNI team will be racing tomorrow in the cat 2 masters 12.5km scratch race in the hopes of getting a medal and showing his riders how its done.

Day 3

Wednesday took off with the under 17’s boys doing there scratch heats, with Lars Hopman making it through to the next heat, the next round saw Lars knocked out so left the East Coast boys out of the remaining scratch races.
Elite woman took to the track for 3000m pursuit heats, with the East Coast rider Kerri anne Torckler placing very well with a time of 3.48, finishing 2nd place behind Alison Shanks, who broke the New Zealand record set by Sarah Ulmer .
Westley Gough from East Coast, representing the West Coast started his 4000m pursuit against some tough competitors from throughout New Zealand, all trying to impress the New Zealand selectors. He finished second in his heats by a very small margin and went in to the finals chasing the gold medal. At the end of a close race Gough earned a silver medal.
The next race to head under way was the U17 girls 8km points race, with ECNI rider Ashleigh Neave competing. The fast sprints proved too much for Neave who rode well after sliding from the track earlier in the day.
Rebekah Rankin, riding for East Coast rode well in her U19 6km scratch race. The fast pace took its victims yet Rebekah rode strongly finishing with the powerful bunch.
The U17 boys Fraser Gough and Lars Hopman also rode their 10km points race. Lars, feeling the effects of a week of full on racing, was lapped part way through the race and was pulled out. Fraser showed his track bloodlines taking several points in the sprints, yet despite riding so well he just missed out on gaining a medal.
The final ride of the day was the Masters 15km points final, in which Ivar Hopman rode. After admitting having little training and not intending to ride, Ivar rode a strong race and finished with the main bunch. So a busy day of racing was concluded.

Hastings Sunday Ride Change

Due to an inclement weather forecast and a potential low number of riders after the Mission Concert the Patongata Picnic beach ride planned for the 2nd March will be changed. The new ride will be Tour of the bay circuit (110km) or Clarksons Hill Return (55km)

Track Nationals Day 2

Kerri-Anne Torckler (ECNI) racing for gold or silver in 3km pursuit tonight against Alison Shanks.
Westley racing for WCNI going for gold or silver this evening against Hayden Rolston in 4km pursuit. Hayden broke NZ record this morning in qualifying with Westly 2nd fastest time.

Check out Cycle NZ Article and full morning results >> Here

Day one at the Track Nationals

From Ivar

Just finished our diner, and the first day of the Nats.

Great to see some of NZ best track cyclists on the boards. The ECNI didn't set the track on fire in our events but we are getting closer.
Kyle Rika is back in the Open Men Sprint race through the repecharge and is in the 8th final first thing tomorrow morning. Ben Simpson got a DQ in the 3km Individual Pursuit Omnium and is not allowed to finish this event. Rebekah Rankin took 10sec. off her personal best in the U19 2km Indivual Pursuit but it was not enough to get in the finals. Ashleigh Neave had a slow start out of the gates in the U17 Girls and couldn't make it up in the 500mtr TT, with the winner from Auckland taking the title and setting a new NZ record. Fraser Gough had a solid race and is looking good but the level required to medal in the U17Boys 500mtr TT is high, same for Lars Hopman.
However John Ellery made a great start to his Nats despite kicking his back wheel out of wack at the start, he finished unofficially 11th with a time of 36.6 sec. Not a bad result at all for someone who only has competed four times on the track including today's race. Tomorrow we have the Juniors lining up for a 2km pursuit. And I been conned into entering the Master 2 champs, they haven't got enough riders to make it a medal event so I have put my hand up. Keep you posted.

John Ellery's View

East coast took on to the track with the elite omnium off first, which later on in the pursuit was a misunderstanding of the rules, that caused a DQ of one of the east coast riders. The men’s sprinting was up next with Kyle, so close to coming through but didn’t quite make it over top but had a second chance and made it through to the next stage of the tournament. When the mighty under 17’s came out do there bit in the first day of the track nationals, the field became a lot bigger which offered more competition for the under 17’s. They tried there hardest but couldn’t pull it together enough to compete for the podium finish with the huge people from the other sectors of New Zealand.

Editors Comment

Westley Gough has been seconded to the West Coast team by the NZ officals .

Track Nationals

We have several juniors down at the track nats starting today in Invercargill.
Ivar is going to try and get the team to send me an update for the blog each day. Following is excerpt 1 - watch this space

When we finally entered the Invercargill, after a 26 hour trip (including a not so pleasant ferry trip) we were all glad to finally be here. We arrived at Yarrow Motel at about 3pm on Saturday, checked into to our rooms, unloaded the car and assembled bikes. We then pedalled down to the velodrome, and caught up with some of the other East Coast riders. The first thing commented on was how still it was, I am really looking forward to riding where the only wind felt is from your own speed. The wind outside however is not very friendly, as we found out today, while stretching legs on the road bikes. With gusts blowing us across the road our ride took an hour into the wind, followed by 25mins to return. East Coast has a training session at the velodrome booked from 7 until 9, with racing starting Monday.

The East Coast 2008 Track Nationals Team has 10 riders, Kyle Rika an Aussie sprinter. Ben Simpson from Auckland is riding omnium. Rebekah Rankin an U19 from Auckland riding sprint and endurance numbers. Kerri Anne Torckler from WCNI is riding 3000m IP. Steven Rolfe an U19, riding endurance and sprint numbers. Also riding endurance and sprint are Ramblers U17 riders Fraser Gough, Lars Hopman and John Ellery, Who are also riding the team sprint together. Georgia Phillips-Cron an U17 rider from Auckland is riding the sprint events. Ashleigh Neave, from Ramblers is also riding sprint and endurance numbers. The East Coast team also consists of Mechanic Rod Gough, Coach Ross Pepper and Manager Ivar Hopman.

Masters Final Results

Thanks to Coxs Menswear and Andrew Spence Pharmacy for their support of this event. Thanks to Howard Bott and his great band of helpers for keeping us safe and well organised and thanks to Warrens Bakery for the prize giving spread - much appreciated from all. Congratulations to all winners and participants.

Final Results - go to Masters page or click link http://www.ramblers.co.nz/events/masters/2008_results.xls

HB Masters Tour Day 1 results

2008 HB Masters Tour
@
Sue Tunnicliff E 0.00.00
Rosemary Weskett E 00.00.41
Carolyn Foote D 00.02.11
Trish Salmon B 00.02.26
Caroline Thomson A 00.04.19

Dave Marett G

Allan Simpson F 0.00.00
Roy van Panhuys F 00.00.43
John Black F 00.02.26
Brian Allen F 00.02.57
Peter Dick F

Ken Tunnicliff E 0.00.00
Wally Woods E 00.00.47
Ian Fraser E 00.01.28

Bruce Galloway D 0.00.00
Ian Seddon D 00.00.41
Bob Puru D 00.01.24
Pat Johnstone D 00.02.33
Kevin Foote D 00.04.42
Mark August D 00.05.16
Barry Doak D 00.06.25
Graeme Salmon D 00.07.05
Paul Roberts D 00.07.06
Hilary Green D 00.09.04
Mark van Panhuys D 00.09.04
Ian Wright D 00.09.12

Ken MacKenzie C 0.00.00
Bret Harte C 00.01.05
Darryl Strachan C 00.01.50
Rob Menefy C 00.06.30
Steve Watson C 00.07.30
Dave Youngquest C 00.08.02
Brett Chapman C 00.12.22
Markus Mutcscheller C

Andrew Townsend B 0.00.00
Kerry Harford B 00.04.47
Patrick Kelly B 00.04.58
Neil Evans B 00.08.04
Keri Wakely B 00.08.34
Andrew Spence B 00.08.51
T Taufale B 00.09.10

Richard Brough A 0.00.00
Tony Hooper A 00.00.30
Blair Leslie A 00.01.20
Brent Bismark A 00.01.59
Kevin Strongman A 00.02.19
Andrew Bryant A

U17,U19,U23 Development Camp Rotorua

BikeNZ in conjunction with Cycling NZ and Cyclosport is planning a development camp in Rotorua for U17, U19 and U23 male and female riders from 20 April to 25 April. This fits in the week between the CRI Tour Rotorua and Te Awamutu Tour, and makes something available in a controlled environment between the two races. For details of the costs and full programme contact hughie@bikenz.org.nz.


Hughie Castle | BikeNZ High Performance Officer |

Photo of Jeremy Yates finishing Sixth Queens Stage

Cycling News Photo

Jeremy Finished 4th Overall GC
New Zealand NT Team 2nd teams points

Westley Gough teamed with Sam Bewley to win inaugural madison

Westley and Sam won all the sprints bar the last in the CNZ held Lion Foundation NZ Madison Championships held at the Wanganui Velodrome this evening to clean up a good field by 35 points. The 120 lap 40km event had sprints every 30 laps
The Madison Championships was open to Elite and U19 teams.
The 2008 Lion Foundation NZ Madison Championships were held in conjunction with a Wanganui Cycling Carnival.

Ramblers Lars Hopman and Ashleigh Neave both had good days in the carnival boding well for the Nationals in Invercargill staring on the 25th February.
Lars rode in strong u17 fields to win the handicap, 2nd in the points race and 4th in the points. Ashleigh won all of the u17 girls events her main rival being Grace Seargent. John Ellery also rode well.

Jeremy has good day at Tour of Langkawi

Jeremy Yates finished 6th after the 8th Stage including a 21km climb up Fraser hill. This has moved him up to 4th 36 seconds off lead with the next rider 12 sec behind. Final stage today (Sunday) is a Criterium so unlikely for major changes in the placings - current GC below note Glen Chadwick (13th) at 2.48

1 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 29.49.06
2 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.29
3 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Karpin Galicia 0.32
4 Jeremy Yates (NZl) New Zealand National Team 0.36
5 Yauhen Sobal (Blr) Tinkoff Credit Systems 0.48
6 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Drapac Porsche Developement Program 0.56
7 Jackson Rodriguez (Ven) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 1.03
8 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.09
9 Ian McCleod (RSA) South African National Team 1.44
10 Matt Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1 1.48
11 Shinichi Fukushima (Jpn) Meitan Hompo - GDR 1.50
12 Tomoya Kano (Jpn) Skil-Shimano 2.07
13 Glen Chadwick (NZl) Team Type 1 2.48
14 Bernard Sulzberger (Aus) Letua Cycling Team 3.00

Jeremy Yates Moves to 8th GC at 8 sec

Stage 4 - February 12: Port Dickson - Batu Pahat, 169.0 km (Tour of Langkawi)

Jeremy earned himself 5 sprint points after winning first intermediate sprint.

Check out photo of Glen Chadwick leading out early break >> Click Here

Jeremy Yates 4th in stage 1 of Tour of Langkawi.

A break-away group of 19 riders escaped after only 15km of the 182.6km long stage 1, the Ramblers were represented by Jeremy Yates, riding for the NZ National Team and Glen Chadwick, riding for Team Type 1.
Jeremy Yates picked up enough points along the way for a second equal place on the points table.
Frenchman Matthieu Sprick, Bouygues Telecom, escaped out of the leading bunch and won by 3 seconds from Mitchel Docker, Drapac Porsche, with Jeremy Yates in fourth. Glen Chadwick came in 19th also at 3 seconds from the winner.

Click for Current results and News

Latest News Jeremy on 9th GC after stage 2 at 11 seconds. Matthieu Sprick leading the 145 strong field

WCNI Track Champs Wanganui 2008

Good turn out in the Under 17 boys, with the East Coast boys holding their own in the different events. John Ellery showing great promise in the sprint events, taking it to the more experienced Matt Noble and only missing out on the top spot in the 500 tt by .48 sec. Fraser Gough carried on the family tradition and shone in the 2000mtr IP with 3rd place. In the Team Sprint the East Coast managed to grab a second place in their first attempt at this discipline. The 30 lap points race became a tense affair with the Lars Hopman and John Ellery breaking a West Coast pact and impressing the spectators with their speed and stamina. Lars Hopman finished a strong 3rd gathering most of his points in the last 3 sprints after establishing a break away with Fraser Gough and Denay Cottam.

Full Results >> Download Here

Eventful Day Bev May Tour Day 2

Big time trial day 1 21km U17 over hilly course

Brodie Stewart 35.29 (35.7km/hr)
Danielle Harford 35.34 (35.65km/hr)
Ashleigh Neave 36.02 (34.98km/hr)

This left Danielle 1 sec clear of Brodie Stewart (Visitor from Queensland OZ ranked number 2 in TT according to her Dad) on GC with Asleigh 3rd at 41 seconds.

Bev had decided that the road race on day 2 was a bit soft and added another lap of the Bell road Circuit for stage 3 with a new finish up hill on Scott road.
The day was humid and showery and the stage was neutralised for the first 7kms to get the bunch safely across new unswept seal. Danielle (and 2 others) punctured while still neutralised and after trouble trying to use wheel from wagon Danielle accepted Ashleighs offered wheel, Ashleigh accepting a spare which limited her available gears.

The race was on with Brittany Thompson attacking on the hills and a supposedly tired Brodie riding strongly. The 1 sec GC gap was closed early with bonus's. Ashleigh rode bravely and had to battle to hang on over the hills with the limited gears. Megan Watson and Ashleigh both worked hard to help Danielle who faded at the finish and was unable to cross before Brodie. The race was won by Zoe Anderson from Wellington with a strong finish. This put Danielle on 2nd GC and Ashliegh retained 3rd. The major placings remained unchanged during the afternoon criterium raced on a nerve racking wet circuit with Ashleigh finishing well for a 3rd place. A good result for Ramblers with 2nd and 3rd gc, Megan finished 9th in her first year U17 and Sarah down the field after a strong first day.

In the B grade Steph Everson had a strong time trial and worked her way up to third GC after the 3rd stage. She got shelled early on the wet criterium track and ended up dropping to a creditable 5th overall.

Toni Bradshaw showed her class taking out the A grade event

Thanks to Bev May, Morrinsville Wheelers, Velosport and Endurance Sport for another great event. Brodie Stewart from Australia was chuffed and is hoping to bring a team over next year which should fuel further interst in this event.

Another great Bev May tour

Ramblers shine at Bev May Tour Day 1

Danielle Harford won the first stage in the U17's at the Bev May tour in Morrinsville with Ashleigh Neave a close 4th. Both had a strong time trial in the afternoon with offical results not yet published they should be both well placed at the start of play tomorrow. Steph Everson is fifth in the B grade and also had a strong time trial. Megan Watson in 13th with Sarah 19th in a 25 strong field also before the 21Km TT. Conditions were hot and humid with a slight breeze. Emma Peterson (Te Awamutu) won the A grade.

HB Masters Tour

Don't forget to get your entries in for the 2 day tour 23rd February.

Mind the vicious rumour started by yours truely that Kerry Harford is a vet 3 this year. This is incorrect and the vet 3's have another year before they get to welcome Kerry and Andrew Townsend to the vet 3 ranks.

National Veterans 40km Time Trial Champs

For all off you pain specialists

National Veterans 40km Time Trial Championships

Saturday 8th March 2008

Start Time:- 10 - 10.45am Makoura College, Johnstone Street, Masterton.

Course:- An out and back turning 4km past Gladstone Shop.

(Similar rolling terrain as Middle Road - towards Camp David without the big hill!)

Afternoon Tea and Medal presentation will be held at Makoura College after the event.

Age Groups:- 35 - 39, 40 - 44, 45 - 49, 50 - 54, etc

Entry form attached.
>> Download Entry Form

More Nationals Elite Photos

Have added womans photos to National Elites page - Kindly supplied by Don Kennedy check out the featured Ramblers members and some of the great shots of Apley with the grapes in the background >> Photos