Trophy Winner Steps It Up

Matthew Elliott, who last year took out the Matthew Dryden Memorial Trophy at the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge, is stepping up this year to take on the elite riders in the Holden Men’s Classic race.

The Matthew Dryden Memorial Trophy is awarded each year to the most promising young cyclist, and is in memory of young cyclist Matthew Dryden who died tragically in 2005 aged 14. At 16 years of age Matthew Elliott from Palmerston North was the fastest under 18 to complete last year’s Bike Barn Solo in a time of 4 hours 12 minutes.

Now 17, Matthew says “I had a really good ride last year and I’ve decided it’s time to put myself amongst the big boys and see if I can not only beat my time of last year but also come somewhere closer to Mike Northey’s winning time of 3 hours 45 minutes, which he did on the back of his Tour Of Southland win last year”.

“I had school exam commitments last year, which meant I had to leave Taupo straight after my ride, and didn’t get the opportunity to actually hold the Matthew Dryden Memorial Trophy until a trip up to Taupo a couple of months ago. It’d be a dream come true to make it to the podium of the Holden Men’s Classic race, if not in the first three places maybe as the winner of the Under 23 section”

The Holden Men’s Classic is a 160km one lap circumnavigation of Lake Taupo, and is a race specifically for licensed riders, with one of the larger money prize pools of any cycling event in the country.
Held on the last Saturday of every November, the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge has 15 event categories catering to all levels of cycling and fitness abilities, and will this year celebrate its 37th anniversary on Saturday the 30th of November.

Online entries for this year’s event have now closed, however late entries will be available at the event on Friday the 29th of November 10am-10pm or Saturday the 30th, 6am-8am.

Visit www.cyclechallenge.com for more information.