Soul Star Racing got things off to an awesome start with an exciting performance in the Oceania Road Champs in Queenstown on Saturday. The team was represented by four riders: 2009 NZ National Road Champ Gabby Vermont, 2011 Canterbury Centre Road Champ Aimee Burns, 2012 World Paralympic Tandem Pursuit bronze medallist Laura Thompson and me. Not only our first hit out as a team, the race also marked Laura’s return to racing after a two year hiatus from the road.
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| View of Littles Road hill |
Queenstown turned on a stunner day for us and we were blessed with beautiful blue skies, dry roads, warm temps and calm winds. The course, four times around a challenging 25-km circuit including an exhilarating 100 kph decent followed by a short but punishing and brutal climb up the not-so-little Littles Rd hill; the hill was highlighted by a particularly enjoyable (or NOT!) section near the top with a slightly uncomfortable gradient of 18%. The first time up Littles Rd hill, only 3 km into the race, defending champion Shara Gillow (GreenEDGE-AIS) pushed the pace and the bunch splintered immediately. A crash on the climb caused chaos mid-bunch, leaving several riders, including Gabby, Aimee and Laura, to chase hard to regain the bunch. Laura, having been brought down in the crash, had to put in a massive effort to get back on. She then put in some powerful pulls for the team, showing impressive strength that, with a few more races under her belt, will no doubt become a serious weapon for the team.
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| Gabby away solo off the front |
With the pace off on the back side of the course along Speargrass Flat, Gabby took the opportunity to launch off the front, rapidly building a lead of almost 2 minutes. As we cleared McIntyre’s Hill, the second major climb of the course, and made the turn back towards the start/finish along Malaghan’s Rd for lap 2, several riders became motivated to get away. With three laps still to go and the testing course not well suited to a solo ride, we were quite keen to have someone join Gabby up the road. Optimistic at the pairing, we let Australian TT-specialist Bridie O’Donnell (Vanderkitten-Focus) escape the bunch.
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| Gabby and Amy powering through the feedzone. |
Unfortunately Bridie, an experienced international pro cyclist and 2010 Oceania Road Race Champion, was confident to go it alone. She blew past Gabby in a massive attack, leaving Gabby still solo, but now chasing. Traveling at more or less the same speed, but individually, the two remained off the front for another lap. We reeled in Gabby the third time up McIntyre’s Hill and then Bridie not long after along Malaghans Rd. And the race was brand new once again.
With the bunch all together and the pace slow heading along the back straight I jumped clear until the top of McIntyre’s Hill when I was joined by five riders, Australian pros Gillow, Gracie Elvin (Jayco-AIS), Rachel Neylon (Abus Nutrixxion) and up-and-coming and massively talented kiwi riders Georgia Williams (KiwiVelo) and Reta Trotman (Otago). Georgia, Reta and I put in efforts to drive the pace but the three Aussies, being speedy sprinters, were less than motivated to work.
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| Me and eventual winner Gracie Elvin. |
We were eventually joined by five more riders with less than 10 kms to go. Gabby, ever the fighter, once again took the opportunity to launch on a solo vie for the line. She was quickly chased down by Gillow. My turn to put in one last dig but I was hunted down and countered my Neylon with only 3 km the go.
To complement the testing course, the race ended with a challenging, uphill sprint. Aimee was in the mix, putting in a strong performance. The Australian pros proved too strong in the end, sweeping the podium with Gillow leading out Elvin for the win. Gillow maintained position for second, with Neylon taking third. First-year senior Williams was the top finisher for NZ in fifth place. While we left it all out on the road and didn’t have much left for the finish, we couldn’t be happier with our first outing.
We'll be back at it next weekend in Blenheim with the Graperide on Saturday followed by the first race in the Elite Cycling Series on Sunday.
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