McAuley adds another national title to his tally

Light rain was no deterant for Gordon McAuley in the Elite Mens race today at the Lion Foundation NZ Criterium Championships. Showing his class and experience, McAuley was not afraid to take the field on and built a steady lead for much of the race. Hamilton’s Justin Kerr, showing a final burst of speed, made McAuley, work for the title he had yet to claim as his own.

The Under 23 title went to Mark Langlands and Myron Simpson won the Under 19 race from fellow Auckland rider, Alex Cull.

Malindi McLean backed up her win at the Peugeot Festival of Cycling Criterium last week in Christchurch with a win today. Riding in her Jazz Apples team the Auckland rider was followed closely behind by former NZ rider and Commonwealth games medalist Susy Pryde. Kerri-Ann Torckler was a popular third riding in front of a home crowd.

In the Under 19 Womens event, Emma Peterson continued her outstanding year with another Gold medal and national title to add to her already impressive haul in 2007.

With the help of funding from the Lion Foundation, organisers set the scene for the hundreds of spectators at the event with a large screen at the start/finish area that provided footage from vantage points throughout the inner city circuit.

Racing at the start of the day in windy conditions was the Under 17 Girls. The majority of the race was dominated by a group of North Harbour riders lead by Libby Morrison Jones. Wellington’s Zoe Anderson put an outstanding sprint in the last lap to win the Gold medal.

The Under 17 boys race began at a furious pace led by Tom Findlay. North Harbour’s Taylor Gunman rode with Findlay for the race and recovered remarkably from a crash mid way through the race to outsprint Findlay on the line. Nick Byrne, Wellington, was third.



Results:

Elite Men: 1 Gordon McAuley (Auckland), 2 Justin Kerr (Hamilton), 3 Brett Tivers (Ne Plymouth)

Under 23 Men: 1 Mark Langlands, 2 Mike Northey, 3 Brad Carter

Under 19 Men: 1, Myron Simpson, 2 Alex Cull, 3 Simon Squire

Elite Women: 1 Melindi McLean (Auckland), 2 Susy Pryde (Auckland), 3 Kerri-Ann Torckler (New Plymouth)

Under 19 Women: 1 Emma Peterson, 2 Jessica Jolly,3 Hayley Giddens



Full results can be viewed on the BikeNZ website

www.bikenz.org.nz