Having caught the limit riders on the climb, he then rode away to win Cycling Otago’s Peninsula Connection Handicap yesterday.
It was an impressive effort considering the scratch and first break riders were humming along and making serious inroads through the field. Scratch riders Ioan Fuller and Blair Martin started 26 minutes behind but powered up the climb and motored through the field.
They finished in second and third respectively, with Fuller claiming the fastest time of 1hr 18min.
The junior race was run from Portobello to Harington Point return, which was a challenging course in the windy conditions. Sam Hughes was the first across the line, closely followed by Isaac Latta and Asha Claridge. Northeasterlies were stronger than anticipated.
With small time gaps between the groups the race was expected to close up quicker than if the wind had been more favourable. Many groups lost riders on the journey to Harington Point and there was even more separation following the turnaround.
