The New Zealand National team took first and second place in today’s second stage of the UCI 2.2 Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton New Zealand Cycle Classic, which concluded in the pretty wine village of Martinborough this afternoon.
Kiaan Watts won the 136km stage in 2hours 56mins 21 secs while his teammate George Jackson was second, after yellow jersey holder and teammate Aaron Gate lead out the pair to the finish line with 150m to go – repaying them for the hard they had done yesterday, to put him in the yellow jersey.
“Today couldn’t have gone much better, to be honest, from the New Zealand team’s side of it,” said Watts at the finish line.
“We kept that break on a fairly short leash and were happy with the numbers … we had three guys up there at one time …yeah, we were really happy with it. It was similar conditions to last year, so we knew roughly what to do.”
Today’s stage began in Masterton, heading south through rolling farmland in Gladstone. While there were attacks from the start line, nothing really stuck until American rider Anders Johnson (USA National Team) did a strong solo effort around 29km before being absorbed back into the peloton. Soon after, a three-rider breakaway formed with Tali Lane Welsh (CCACHE x PAR KUP), Ari Scott (Couplands Booth’s Group) and Camden Feint (Oxford Edge) who extended their lead to almost three minutes on the peloton. As the trio entered the circuit in Martinborough, their gap had reduced to 2min 10 and over the following two laps of the 7.1km circuit, it was slowly reduced further.
With five laps to go, Scott was dropped however Couplands teammate Keegan Hornblow jumped across to join the leading two riders and together they held strong … however with one lap to go, Hornblow moved out in front.
As was predicted, the final lap saw the group come back together fighting strong, hot, nor’west winds on the back straight.
As they collectively turned the corner to final sprint, it was Gate that switched from being a lead rider to a domestique and on the finish stretch he lead out Watts and Jackson. Watts positioned himself on the left-hand side of the group out of the wind and powered across the line while Jackson was second by a whisker. Australian Elliot Schultz (Team Bridgelane), Nick Kergozou (St George Continental and a former stage 2 winner) and Liam White (CCACHE x PAR KUP) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Interestingly, it was the second year in a row that Watts had won this stage and he said there were similarities with what happened last year.
“It was the same wind direction as last year, but it was a lot stronger. It wasn’t too bad for us because we rode the front for the whole stage … the boys did an awesome job. I was starting to sweat there at the end, you know, I wanted to finish off the hard work the boys had done and one, two! You couldn’t ask for much more.”
He also paid tribute to Gate, who did enough today to retain the yellow jersey heading into tomorrow’s Queen stage.
“When he does that (leads you in), you see the old jersey pulling for you, you can only be inspired.”
Gate said it was great to let Jackson and Watt “rip” in the last 100m to get the job done for the New Zealand National team. He said their focus will now turn to tomorrow’s 126.9km stage that features three significant hill climbs including the finish atop Admiral Hill.
“It’s in complete contrast to today’s course but I think we are looking forward to it. Should be another hot one so we will have plenty of fluids on board, and I’m just looking forward to seeing Logan (Currie) flying tomorrow.”
Australian team CCACHE x PAR KUP backed up their strong stage one performance with White retaining the King of the Mountain Jersey; William Heffernam retaining the U23 jersey and Welsh rewarded for this breakaway ride, being presented the Most Aggressive Rider Jersey. On the podium he told the crowd how he found the hot, windy conditions.
“That definitely threw a spanner in the works … as soon as we got their (Martinborough) it was like a big head wind up the straight and we were still working pretty good together then it split a bit and two of us got away then Keegan Hornblow came across and it was definitely interesting holding his wheel … it was definitely a hard stage.”
The 2024 Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton NZ Cycle Classic has been made possible through the generous support of sponsors, including Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton, Mobile Communications Service, Wizwireless, Fagan Motors, Gollins Commercial, FMG, The Sign Factory, Tailwind, Cross Country Rentals, and Wellington City Council. Their backing underscores the commitment to fostering and promoting top tier cycling events in the region.
Provisional Results from Stage 2 of the UCI 2.2 New Zealand Cycle Classic, supported by Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton:
- Kiaan Watt (NZ National Team) 2hrs 56mins 21 secs
- George Jackson (NZ National Team)
- Elliot Schultz (Team Bridgelane)
- Nick Kergozou (St George Continental)
- Kurt Eather (CCACHE x PAR KUP)
Classification Jerseys:
- Fagan Motors U23: William Heffernam (CCACHE x PAR KUP)
- FMG King of the Mountain: Liam White (CCACHE x PAR KUP)
- Wiz Wireless Sprint Ace Jersey: Aaron Gate (New Zealand National Team)
- The Mobile Communications Services Most Aggressive Rider: Tali Lane Welsh (CCACHE x PAR KUP)
- Mitre 10 MEGA Masterton Yellow Jersey: Aaron Gate (New Zealand National Team)