Stuff Sports
13 February, 2021, 6:40 am
Finn Fisher-Black went quicker than the elite men s riders over the 44km course in Cambridge (File photo).
Jumbo-Visma development rider Finn Fisher-Black produced the fastest ride of the day to win the under-23 men’s time trial at the New Zealand championships in Cambridge on Friday.
He was even quicker than elite men’s winner, Tokyo-bound track cyclist Aaron Gate, who hung on to edge a fast-finishing Jumbo-Visma star George Bennett by just 0.7 seconds over the rolling 44 kilometre course.
The 19-year-old Fisher-Black highlighted his enormous potential by posting a time of 54 min 7.54 sec, which was 9.22 seconds faster than Gate over the same course.
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.
Finn Fisher-Black took the stage win at the New Zealand Cycle Classic on Saturday.
Junior pursuit world record-holder Finn Fisher-Black captured the yellow jersey - after some confusion – on the penultimate day of the New Zealand Cycle Classic. The New Zealand National team member won Saturday’s “Queen Stage” in 3hr 08min 09 secs to take the Classic lead off Black Spoke’s Luke Mudgway and will head into Sunday s fifth and final stage on general classification with a four-second lead over teammate Corbin Strong. Black Spoke’s Aaron Gate is third place on General Classification after finishing sixth on Saturday raced in hot conditions in Wairarapa.
Black Spoke favoured in classic
Aaron Gate winning stage one of the 2020 NZ Cycle Classic. PHOTO/DAVE LINTOTT
CYCLING
chris.cogdale@age.co.nz
Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy are warm favourites to win the five-stage New Zealand Cycle Classic which started yesterday in Masterton.
Black Spoke, New Zealand’s only professional Union Cycliste Internationale team, took team honours in the 2020 tour, while 2019 champion Aaron Gate finished second in the general classification.
The team’s build-up to this year’s tour started with a two-week training camp in Wairarapa in October to familiarise themselves with the region’s roads.
While here Black Spoke also competed in a race of the Trust House North Island Team Series.
Dave Lintott
Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy s Aaron Gate won the New Zealand Cycle Classic title in 2019 and is back for another title tilt in 2021.
Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy are not shy about their ambitions when lining up to contest this week’s UCI 2.2 New Zealand Cycle Classic five-day stage race being held in Wairarapa and Wellington. “It would be great to take out the overall win and stage wins along the way,” team manager Scott Guyton said. “We have a well-rounded team with individuals that can do well over all the terrains Wairarapa has to offer. We also have the national criterium champion, Aaron Gate in the team, and we are looking forward to seeing him race in the national jersey in our capital city on the last stage.”