BIKENZ TEAM RELEASE – NZ CYCLE CLASSIC STAGE 4

BikeNZ’s Olympic men’s track squad set the pace on the penultimate stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic in the Manawatu today.

It was an aggressive day of racing that saw the yellow jersey change hands, with young Australian Jay McCarthy (Jayco-AIS) taking over as the new tour leader.

A brave move by world omnium silver medallist Shane Archbold from the BikeNZ team almost put the icing on the cake following teammate Sam Bewley’s stage win yesterday, but he came up just short in a late break.

“It was a nice course for us track riders, so we tried to get in a breakaway all day,” said Archbold.

“I was in the break for the last few kilometres with two Australians. The Jayco-AIS rider decided to sit on so his teammate could get the time bonus and it then became quite hard with just two of us working so I decided to sit-up.”

The break was caught in the final kilometre, with Thomas Palmer (Drapac) taking line honours in the bunch sprint ahead of McCarthy and Taupo’s Patrick Bevin (Hudson Gavin Martin).

“I wasn’t sprinting well today,” said Archbold. “We thought that maybe Aaron (Gate) could get up there but the Australians were just too fast.”

The time bonus that McCarthy received for his second place in the sprint finish was sufficient for him to overtake compatriot Darren Lapthorne (Drapac) and claim the tour leader’s yellow jersey.

“I’ve got a bit of a sprint on me, but sometimes in those big bunch kicks you can get a bit lost,” said McCarthy.

“Today everything went to plan though. I followed the right wheels and it ended second which gave me the time bonus I needed, so it was awesome,’ said McCarthy.

“It was a big ride by the Jayco boys today. We had a couple of boys at 1.15 so the plan was to get them up the road and put the pressure on Drapac. They were there all the way with us,” said McCarthy.

He takes just a three second lead into tomorrow’s final stage which comprises a 111km circuit around the outskirts of Palmerston North, which is set to be a showdown between the two Australian teams of Jayco-AIS and Drapac.

Subway Pro Cycling’s Nick Lovegrove, who was second behind Bewley yesterday, finished in the main bunch today to claim the tour sprint jersey.

Leading provisional results, stage 4, 111km: Thomas Palmer (Drapac) 2.29,08, 1; Jay McCarthy (Jayco-AIS) same time, 2; Patrick Bevin (Hudson Gavin Martin) same time, 3.

General Classification after stage 4: McCarthy 9.57.53, 1; Darren Lapthorne (Drapac) at 3 seconds, 2; Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisors) at 1:17, 3.

NOTE: Official results and report to follow from Tour Organisers.

For interviews with BikeNZ team contact:
Sarah van Boheemen
BikeNZ
Tel 021 599103

For further information contact:
IAN HEPENSTALL
Media Liaison, BikeNZ High Performance
Sports Media NZ Ltd