Hawke flies up hill forcycle win

Junior under-19 rider Jamie Hawke cemented his victory on the climb up the Whatamango Hill in Cuddon Cycling Marlborough's Whatamango three-stage event last Saturday afternoon.

The open grade 64km event started off with a 27km massed start stage to Picton from Blenheim. The majority of the field stayed together with 11 riders contesting the sprint even after the climb over the Elevation hill. Gerard van Antwerpen produced a powerful sprint to head off Todd Neal and Andrew Jamieson at the line. The sealed handicap section was won by Wayne Smith from Craig Murphy and Neal.

Stage two was a 10km time trial from Waikawa to the top of the gruelling climb up the Whatamango Hill. Hawke rode up the hill with ease in the hot conditions to record a time of 26m 37s. The minor placings were filled by Jamieson (27m 27s) and Paul Newman (27m 40s).

The sealed handicap went to Newman from Hawke and Smith.

The final 27km stage back to Blenheim saw an early battle for sprint bonus seconds between Jamieson and Newman, while Hawke just looked after his 50s lead. The sprint home saw Van Antwerpen take the stage win from Jamieson with five seconds back to Brent Ackroyd, Antony Clark and Ray Dunstan. The sealed handicap went to Murphy, from Smith and Ackroyd.

The overall result saw Hawke take the fastest time trophy by 25s from Jamieson, with another 28s back to Newman in third place. The handicap trophy went to the consistent Smith on 15pt from Murphy 11pt and Neal 7pt.

The junior under-17 grade raced over two stages to Picton and return for the Redwood Fisheries Cup, which went to handicap winner Sam Thomas on just his second ride. Will Hart took the fastest time honours.

The final two stages of the Curtis Piper Memorial four stage event were held at Renwick the previous week. With only 16 seconds separating the top five riders, the 5km stage three hill time trial into the Delta Lake was to be a real test. Antony Clark (9m 53s) rode a good time to move into the lead over Grant Ludemann (10m 05s) and Max Pendleton (10m 25s). The handicap section was won by Clark from Mary Lister and Ludemann.

The final 50km stage from the Delta to Wairau Valley township and return to Conders Bend Road saw the riders encounter strong headwinds on the return journey. At this stage Clark had a 12s and 24s lead over Ludemann and Pendleton respectively.

The whole field stayed intact, with the sprint finish going to Pendleton over Craig Murphy and Ludemann.

Even with sprint bonuses in the final stage, Clark won the Curtis Piper Memorial Cup by 12s from Ludemann, with just 4s back to Pendleton in third place. The Grosvenor Trophy for handicap went to Mary Lister on 16pt, from Mike McManaway 16pt and Mike Murphy 13pt.

The junior under-17 event overall result saw Nick Blakiston take first place and fastest time honours.

A separate open 50km event was held over the open course with Gerard van Antwerpen taking line honours over Marty Bruce and Brent Ackroyd in the final sprint.

Results:

Open - Whatamango three stage event:

Stage one 27km massed start: G van Antwerpen 41m 25s 1, T Neal s.t. 2, A Jamieson s.t. 3, R Dunstan s.t. 4, A Clark s.t 5, P Newman s.t. 6, W Smith s.t. 7, G Ludemann s.t. 8, B Ackroyd s.t. 9, J Hawke s.t. 10. Sealed handicap: W Smith 6pt, C Murphy 5pt, T Neal 4pt, D Church 3pt, G Ludemann 2pt, A Clark 1pt.

Stage two 10km hill time trial: J Hawke 26m 37s 1, A Jamieson 27m 27s 2, P Newman 27m 40s 3, R Dunstan 29m 06s 4, B Ackroyd 29m 40s 5, A Clark 29m 54s 6, T Neal 30m 17s 7, G Ludemann 30m 22s 8, W Smith 30m 24s 9, G van Antwerpen 30m 45s 10. Sealed handicap: P Newman 6pt, j Hawke 5pt, W Smith 4pt, A Jamieson 3pt, M Murphy 2pt, T Neal 1pt.

Stage three 27km massed start: G van Antwerpen 36m 41s 1, A Jamieson s.t. 2, B Ackroyd 36m 46s 3, A Clark s.t. 4, R Dunstan s.t. 5, C Murphy s.t. 6, T Neal s.t. 7, G Ludemann s.t. 8, P Newman s.t. 9, J Hawke s.t. 10.Sealed handicap, C Murphy 6pt, W Smith 5pt, B Ackroyd 4pt, A Clark 2pt, G Ludemann 1pt.

Overall classification: J Hawke 1hr 44m 48s 1, A Jamieson at 25s 2, P Newman at 53s 3, R Dunstan at 2m 18s 4, B Ackroyd at 2m 59s 5, A Clark at 3m 15s 6, T Neal at 3m 34s 7, G Ludemann at 3m 45s 8, W Smith at 3m 47s 9, G van Antwerpen at 3m 55s 10.

Junior under 17- Redwood Fisheries two stage event:

Stage one 27km massed start: W Hart 48m 45s 1, S Thomas 60m 39s 2. Sealed handicap, W Hart 6pt, S Thomas 5pt.

Stage Two 27km massed start: W Hart 41m 25s 1, S Taylor 46m 51s 2. Sealed handicap, S Taylor 6pt, W Hart 5pt.

Overall classification: W Hart 1hr 30m 10s 1, S Taylor at 17m 20s 2. Sealed handicap, S Taylor 11pt 1, W Hart 11pt 2.

Open grade

Curtis Piper Memorial four stage event:

Stage three 5km hill time trial: A Clark 9m 53s 1, G Ludemann 10m 05s 2, M Pendleton 10m 25s 3, M Murphy 10m 32s 4, W Smith 11m 34s 5. Sealed handicap, A Clark 6pt, M Lister 5pt, G Ludemann 4pt, M Pendleton 3pt, M Murphy 2pt, M McManaway 1pt.

Stage four 50km massed start: M Pendleton 1hr 20m 28s 1, C Murphy s.t. 2, G Ludemann s.t. 3, A Clark s.t. 4, M Murphy s.t. 5. Sealed handicap, M Lister 6pt, M McManaway 5pt, W Smith 4pt, C Murphy 3pt, M Murphy 2pt, M Pendleton 1pt.

Overall classification: A Clark 3hr 15m 28s 1, G Ludemann at 12s 2, M Pendleton at 16s 3, M Murphy at 56s 4, W Smith at 2m 33s 5. Sealed handicap, M Lister 16pt 1, M McManaway 16pt 2, M Murphy 13pt 3, C Murphy 9pt 4, M Pendleton 9pt 5.

- The Marlborough Express