The promise of three days of good hard racing lured a dozen local Ramblers riders to the Powerco Queens Birthday Tour in Taranaki. With the mystical Mount Taranaki as a backdrop, this Tour catered for six different grades, with local representation in the A, B and Under 17 Boys and Girls.
Four of our Hawkes Bay juniors took part in Cycling New Zealand’s development camp that ran in conjunction with the Tour. Ashleigh Neave and Sean Joyce used this Tour as lead up to Canberra Kowalski Tour in July, with Fraser Gough and Danielle Harford out to impress for future selection.
For the first time in her young career Ashleigh Neave had the back-up of a competent team of riders to help her achieve the astonishing feat of winning Under 17 Girls overall, Queen of the Mountain, second in Sprint Ace and two stages. Neave, a Pedal Power Taradale sponsored athlete, displayed a maturity beyond her age during and after the racing not often seen at this level.
Fraser Gough and Sean Joyce were designated domestiques, riders that support their leader. Both boys performed above the expectation of the national selectors with their hard work, putting their team’s success above their own. No glory for these Havelock North riders, but plenty of guts and derermination.
During any road race there are many attempts to establish a break away, but knowing which one will stick and succeed comes with experience and Jeremy Yates has plenty of this. On stage two and five Yates made it in the winning breaks, finishing second in both stages and ending up fourth overall in A grade.
Smooth team work between Darryl Strachan and Dylan Stewart in B grade helped Strachan secure a fourth place overall and win stage 4 as he out-sprinted his four companions on the line. In stage 5 the favour was returned as Stewart benefited from Strachan’s work, taking crucial points to secure the Sprint Ace Jersey.
