Southland cyclists impress at opening round of national series
Invercargill hosted the first round of Cycling New Zealand’s National Track Series over the King’s Birthday long weekend.
Invercargill hosted the first round of Cycling New Zealand’s National Track Series over the King’s Birthday long weekend.
Bringing together top developing riders from the under 17, under 19, and under 23 age groups, as well as some Elite cyclists, the series serves as an opportunity for track cyclists to test themselves in competition while also attending workshops to help with their skills development.
The first round, hosted by Cycling Southland at the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome, was also preceded by the first training camp for the recently announced team that will represent New Zealand at the UCI Junior Track Cycling Worlds Championships, to be held in Cali, Colombia, from 23 to 27 August.
The team includes three Southlanders - Marshall Erwood, Magnus Jamieson, and Caitlin Kelly - who were all in action during the weekend’s racing as well.
The opening day saw a number of qualifying races taking place, with the sprinters completing a flying 200 metre time trial to determine their seeding for further events, while the endurance riders took part in a points race to determine who would be placed in A grade versus B grade.
In the sprints, Conrad Clark (G Force) was the top qualifier for Southland in fourth place, placing him in the top sprint group, while Geertien Venter (Cycling Southland) was the top qualifier among the women.
Magnus Jamieson (Cycling Southland), Marshall Erwood (Cycling Southland), Hunter Gough (Cycling Otago), Tom Kerr (Cycling Southland), and Liam Ramsey (G Force) all qualified through to men’s A grade in the endurance races.
There was some great racing from Jamieson as he claimed the A grade men double tempo race, ahead of Erwood in second, while the two riders teamed up for the 10km Madison chase event, taking out the win, with Kerr and team mate Lucas Bhimy in third.
There was also a win for Finn Edwards (G Force) in the B grade men double tempo race, as well as for Clark in the longest lap.
There were some further top performances for Southlanders on the second day of competition, with a win for Erwood in the
A grade men elimination, as well as for Edwards in the B grade men elimination.
There was also a win for Edwards in the B grade scratch race, and a second for Emily Forsyth (G Force) in the women scratch race, while in the A grade men scratch race, Gough took second, with Kerr in third.
The evening session saw the team pursuit team of Erwood, Jamieson, Matthew Davidson, and James Gardner take out the win, ahead of the team of Kerr, Bhimy, Jamie Cantell-Roberts, and Austin Norwell, with Ramsey, Edwards, Hamish Wallace, and Jonathan Blyth in third.
The team of Venter and Wolf Pene took out the women and mixed team sprint, ahead of the team of Sarah Hartstonge (Cycling Southland) and Amelie Wood in second.
Clark and Malachi McLaren (G Force) took second in the men team sprint, with Edwards and Blyth in third.
George Manson (G Force) took the B grade sprint derby, with Jack Madden (Cycling Southland) in third.
Edwards took another win in the B grade men tempo race, while Jack Madden (Cycling Southland) took the B grade sprint Gladiator race, with Manson in third, while in the A grade sprint Gladiator, Clark took second ahead of McLaren in third.
The B grade Madison points race saw a win for Clark and Ramsey, with Edwards in Blyth in second.
The A grade race saw yet another win for the team of Erwood and Jamieson, winning every one of the four sprints, while Gough teamed up with Cantell-Roberts for third.
The final day of racing saw the endurance and sprint riders combine for the Keirin, with Southlanders Venter and Forsyth winning their qualifying heats in the women’s Keirin to set themselves up as the riders to watch.
It was an especially dominant display by Venter, who used her skill and power to great effect to distance the rest of the field and come home well clear of the rest.
Caitlin Kelly and fellow Junior Worlds team mate Meg Baker raced in the B grade men’s field, with Kelly taking the win in her heat, and Ramsey doing the same in his.
There were more dominant performances for Southland in the A grade men’s Keirin heats as Erwood and Jamieson both took out their heats to progress to the next round.
In the women’s division, the field was split into an A and B final, with Venter taking out the first round of the A final, ahead of Forsyth in third.
Venter would repeat her performance in the second round of the A final, again taking the win, to emerge from the Keirin competition unbeaten.
There was also a second place finish for Hartstonge in the second round of the B final.
In the men’s B grade semi finals, Edwards won his heat to progress to the A final, with Ramsey taking second in his heat, and Blyth third, to progress to the A final as well.
The A final saw Edwards take the B grade men’s title, with Ramsey in third, while Kelly took out the minor final for 7th to 12th place.
in the A grade men’s semi-finals, Erwood and Jamieson both took out their respective heats to progress to the A final, where Jamieson managed to retain his unbeaten record in the Keirin to take the title, ahead of Erwood in second.
However, Erwood managed to get his own back in the Longest Lap event, taking the win in the A final, while Manson took the win in the B final, with Madden in third.
The racing finished with the mixed Madison chase events, with Ramsey and team mate James Gardner winning the A grade event, ahead of Erwood and Meg Baker, with Jamieson and under 15 rider Oliver Keast taking third.
Overall, Erwood claimed the title in A grade, just ahead of Jamieson in second.
Venter was dominant in the women’s sprint to cement the title, well clear of Amelie Wood in second, with Hartstonge on equal points in third.
In the men’s sprint division, Alex Schuler took out the title, ahead of Clark in second place, with Pene in third.
Edwards was dominant in the B grade men endurance, taking a commanding victory, ahead of Oliver Clark in second, and female Junior Worlds team member Baker in third.
An honourable mention has to go to Cycling Southland’s Oliver Keast, who as an under 15 rider managed to hold his own against a field composed mostly of under 17 and under 19 riders.