Odlin hopes for winning result in the Coffee Culture Le Race

Christchurch cyclist Paul Odlin hopes to go one better than his two runner up results in Saturdays gruelling 100 kilometre Christchurch to Akaroa Le Race.

Odlin has always featured in the event and two years ago was leading Sam Horgan on the final descent only to crash wiping out his chances of taking the win.

“I really don’t have any real pressure to win,” Odlin said. “I’m more focused on my coaching business now rather than racing but it would be nice to say I’ve won it as it’s such a tough event.”

In the absence of defending champion Michael Vink Odlin will face strong competition from Jason Christie, who has recently returned from racing in Malaysia’s Le Tour de Langkawi, four of Canterbury’s promising young riders, Daniel Whitehouse, Ben Johnstone, Keagan Girdlestone and Adam Bull and a number of experienced strong local riders including Antony Chapman, Neil Sutherland, Tom Hubbard, Reon Nolan and Ben Robertson.

Auckland cyclist and coach Aaron Strong could also feature. He became a father for the first time last year which has restricted his time on the bike, but the experienced rider is a proven performer and said it was a race that had always been on his ‘bucket list.’

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he said. “So I thought I’d better enter before I get too old and slow down too much. I’m reasonable fit as I’m training for club nationals in May but being a new dad has limited my time to get the longer training rides in, but I still hope to be competitive. I lack a bit of local knowledge too so have asked a few of the local guys about the course; it sounds challenging, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Odlin was taking a ‘wait and see’ approach into Saturdays racing, saying that the business end of the event really only gets underway after the tough Hilltop climb and then it was a matter of ‘who had the best legs on the day.’

“It’s always a hard day out, not matter what sort of form you’re in,” Odlin said. “You finish knowing you’ve had a really tough work out without fail.” 

Defending women’s champion Sharlotte Lucas will have professional Reta Trotman as her main threat. Trotman, who leaves next month to join her German pro team MaxxSOLAR, is an aggressive rider and proven climber highlighted by her second place in the mountain classification of the Gracia Orlova Tour in Europe last year.

National junior representative Maddi Campbell will be keen for a good hit out before she heads to Canada to join elite amateur cycling team Realdeal/Gears and strong local riders Jeannie Blakemore, Jeanette Gerrie, Lucy Timmings, Alice Bennett and Phoebe McCaughan could all make their presence felt.

A Canterbury cycling icon and earthquake victim will be honoured again on Saturday. To honour Ross Bush’s life and cycling legacy, his family donated the ‘Ross Bush Memorial Trophy’ in 2011 that is awarded to the fastest junior rider to complete Le Race. Last year’s winner, 19 year old Whitehouse, is one of the favourites for the overall title this year.