BENCHMARKHOMES TOUR 2010-Round Two
Monday, 19 April 2010
Two from two for Benchmark Homes Cycling Team
Josh Atkins won the second round of the Benchmark Homes series from a five man breakaway, giving his Benchmark Homes team two wins from two in the series.
Hokitika's classic Blue Spur and Mahinapua loop circuit provided excellent racing conditions on a fine day for round two of the Benchmark Homes Elite Team Racing Series on Sunday.
17 teams and 117 riders from both ends of New Zealand including Bici Vida (Auckland), H & J Smith Outdoor World (Invercargill), and everywhere in between, lined up on the start line for the 136km race.
Five go free to battle for men's victory
The race was hard and fast, with attacks made through the staircase hill section of the Mahinapua loop and the Blue Spur hills.
The pressure and pace was on from the beginning with some real attrition showing through the hill climbs as early as the 30km mark for the women in the field, with ten of the 17 who started being dropped.
Benchmark Homes' Will Bowman broke away early in the men's race, but Ultimo Jamis Cycling Team and John Bull Avanti Plus riders worked hard to pull him back.
Despite attacks from all sides, nothing really stuck until Eric Drower from Subway-Avanti and Thomas Hodgson from Tasman Wheelers had a decent crack at the 90km mark.
Josh Atkins and round one winner James McCoy from Benchmark Homes made a decisive break on the second climb up the Blue Spur.
Surprisingly, the peloton didn't shut these two series leaders down.
They were only joined by Paul Odlin from Bici Vida, Scott Lyttle (Dunedin's Cycle Surgery Race Team), Eric Drower (Subway Avanti), Brad Evans (Kumho Tyres Otago) and Tom Hodgson (Tasman Wheelers).
"We put that hammer down and worked well together," said eventual winner Atkins. "With two climbs to go, Scott Lyttle took the pace up and forced a break with Tom and Brad being dropped at 130km".
"We didn't muck around with five km to go and I knew I could go for it. It worked out perfectly. James and I know each other's strengths so we worked together. He knew I had the sprint so James pushed it and took off with about a km to go. Eric, Paul and Scott gathered him in so just before the last corner he went again. That worked perfectly for me and I took the sprint on the line."
Atkins won the sprint ahead of Bici Vida's Paul Odlin and Subway Avanti's Eric Drower.
"I'll be back for Hanmer. We are aiming for a third team victory," said Atkins who has been enjoying a string of successes since recovering from leg surgery earlier in the year.
"We are rapt," said Brendan Hart, Benchmark Homes team director. "We are continuing the momentum and the winning streak. We were disappointed with our results at Brunner yesterday as we don't feel they reflected how well our riders rode. They are riding well as a team, reading the race well, committed to doing their part and have the form to finish it off. They are riding smart and consolidating."