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Showing immense grit and determination over the next four laps, he worked his way to the front during lap three to finish first and take the national title by 20 seconds, in a time of 55 minutes 26 seconds. “It was probably better that I dropped the pedal than going all out because everyone went so hard off the start that they died before the end of the race – I could argue it was tactics but it wasn’t really.” Auckland’s Max Preece was second while current North Island champion and 2020 nationals winner Coen Nicol of Taupo was third. Woods was pleased to have clawed back his deficit so emphatically, having been one and a half minutes behind race leader Nicol the end of lap two.
“I knew I was training well but you never know until you race. My prep has gone well and I feel I am in the best shape ever. I am healthy and fit and the results are coming,” said Cooper. He was minute clear of Oliver after the first full lap of six and gradually disappeared from the chasers, lapping consistently in a commanding performance.
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Anton Cooper scored his seventh elite title and fifth in a row at the Torpeo7 Mountain Bike National Championships in Christchurch “It is may be the most special of all my national champs, doing it at home with such a big crowd and with the calibre of riders in New Zealand these days, it is pretty special. We have not raced in front of a crowd for over 12 months so to have this turnout is unreal.”
Aaron Gate finishes ahead of Luke Mudgway to win the 2021 Gravel and Tar Classic.
It may have been a far cry from the smooth surfaces of an Olympic track or a United States road, but Aaron Gate and Olivia Ray still reigned supreme at the Gravel and Tar Classic in Manawatū on Saturday. The duo – both winners of November’s criterium national champs in Christchurch – added to their resumes in taking out the UCI 1.2 event from Feilding to Palmerston North which features five gravel sectors of about 40km and is considered the hardest single-day road race in Oceania. In a star-studded 164km men’s race, it was Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy rider Gate who outgunned team-mate Luke Mudgway in a two-man sprint to the finish.