Cameron Karwowski and Todd Neal were in control to take the Whatamango trophies for fastest time and handicap respectively in Cuddon Cycling Marlborough’s 3 stage event last Saturday.
The open grade 27km first stage from Blenheim to Picton saw 11 riders stay in the front group until the climb on the Elevation just 3km from the line. Seven riders lined up for the sprint with Conal Sloan and Gerard van Antwerpen gaining 1 second over George Baxter, Neal, Karwowski, Chris Heywood and Ray Dunstan respectively. Neal managing to finish with the top riders took the sealed handicap by 7 seconds to Rhonda Murphy and Brent Ackroyd.
Stage two, a 10km time trial, covered a course from Waikawa to the top of Port Underwood taking in the gruelling Whatamango hill climb. Karwowski posted the winning time of 27m 49s to gain a 6 second lead over Baxter with Dunstan another 32 seconds back. The handicap points went convincingly to Peter Burge with an 1m 18s gap to Craig Murphy and another 14 seconds to the consistent Neal.
The final stage from Picton back to Blenheim created an interesting situation with only 6 seconds separating Karwowski and Baxter. With time bonus sprints worth 8,6,4, and 2 seconds at Koromiko, Tuamarina and the finish, tactical riding was vital. Seven riders went clear on the Elevation climb with the first sprint going to a determined Baxter from Karwowski. Unfortunately Baxter punctured a few kilometres later which gave Karwowski a cruise to overall victory. Van Antwerpen took the stage from Sloan and Heywood. Mike McManaway took the handicap win by 1m 22s from Neal with another 7 seconds to Mary Lister.
The overall result was a 36 second win for Karwowski over Dunstan with another 1m 22s back to Heywood in third place. Neal easily won the handicap trophy with 15 points to Craig Murphy (8pt) and McManaway (7pt).
The junior under 17 grade rode a 2 stage event to Picton and return with the handicap winner taking the Redwood Fisheries Cup. Stage one saw Ethan Roach just have the edge over Jamie Hawke in the latter stages over the Elevation for a 9 second win. Will Hart held off Callum Saunders to take third place. The sealed handicap went to Emma Cresswell by 36 seconds to Roach with another 7 seconds back to Hart in third place.
Roach was dominant by taking the final stage back to Blenheim by 2 seconds over Hawke in the sprint to the line. Saunders headed off Hart for third place which also gave them first and second place respectively in the handicap section with Roach in third place.
The overall handicap result for the Redwood Fisheries Cup went to Hart (9pts) with the best result on the final stage from Roach (9pts) and Saunders (8pts).
Roach took overall fastest time by 11 seconds to Hawke with Hart taking third fastest over Saunders by 3 seconds.
One of the highlights of the day was the top two junior under 17 riders taking part in the time trial up the Whatamango hill. Hawke blitzed all riders on the day to record 26m 57s with Roach recording 29m 12s for fifth fastest time.
Results:
Open grade- Whatamango 3 stage, Stage One 27km, C Sloan 39m 42s 1, G van Antwerpen s.t 2, G Baxter 39m 43s 3, T Neal s.t. 4, C Karwowski s.t. 5. Sealed handicap, T Neal 6pt, R Murphy 5pt, B Ackroyd 4pt, C Murphy 3pt, M Murphy 2pt, D Church 1pt. Stage Two 10km TT, C Karwowski 27m 49s 1, G Baxter 27m 55s 2, R Dunstan 28m 27s 3, C Heywood 29m 49s 4, T Neal 30m 37s 5. Sealed handicap, P Burge 6pt, C Murphy 5pt, T Neal 4pt, B Ackroyd 3pt, M Lister 2pt, M McManaway 1pt. Stage Three 27km, G van Antwerpen 43m 30s 1, C Sloan s.t 2, C Heywood s.t. 3, R Dunstan s.t. 4, T Neal s.t. 5. Sealed handicap, M McManaway 6pt, T Neal 5pt, M Lister 4pt, C Heywood 3pt, G van Antwerpen 2pt, C Sloan 1pt. Overall classification, C Karwowski 1hr 51m 04s 1, R Dunstan 1hr 51m 40s 2, C Heywood 1hr 53m 02s 3, T Neal 1hr 53m 50s 4, G van Antwerpen 1hr 53m 59s 5. Handicap, T Neal 15pt 1, C Murphy 8pt 2, M McManaway 7pt 3, B Ackroyd 7pt 4, M Lister 6pt 5, P Burge 6pt 6.
Junior Under 17 grade- Redwood Fisheries 2 stage, Stage One 27km, E Roach 39m 43s 1, J Hawke 39m 52s 2, W Hart 49m 50s 3. Sealed handicap, E Cresswell 6pt, E Roach 5pt, W Hart 4pt, J Hawke 3pt, C Saunders 2pt. Stage Two 27km, E Roach 43m 30s 1, J Hawke 43m 32s 2, C Saunders 52m 34s 3. Sealed handicap, C Saunders 6pt, W Hart 5pt, E Roach 4pt, J Hawke 3pt, E Cresswell 2pt. Overall classification, E Roach 1hr 23m 13s 1, J Hawke 1hr 23m 24s 2, W Hart 1hr 42m 25s 3. Handicap, W Hart 9pt 1, E Roach 9pt 2, C Saunders 8pt 3, E Cresswell 8pt 4, J Hawke 6pt 5.