Jan 10th, 10. Bauer beat out two of New Zealand's pro-tour riders for the top place on the podium and the coveted NZ Champion jersey in today's 186km race.

Bauer wins the final battle ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Watching the sprint finish along with thousands of fans were Sam Bewley, Marc Ryan, Clinton Avery, Patrick Bevan, Ryan Wills, defending champion Gordon McCauley and many more riders who set out on the race almost five hours earlier.  

Only 24 of 80 riders finished.

Some pulled out mid way through when the pace was at it's highest, and others were pulled off the course when the front of the race threatened to catch them on their final climb.  

Bevan was one of the unlucky few who left the race due to a crash.

On the final lap four riders made the most of their lead when a motivated Jeremy Vennell punctured and Glen Chadwick suffered a slow puncture.

Bauer, Roulston and Dean along with U23 rider Tom Findlay stormed around the course setting themselves up for a thrilling finale.

Bauer leads the 12 man leading break ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"The plan was to stay away from the people chasing, to take a sprint over those two I didn't really think was possible."

"Something else takes over when you get to the line, a bit of adreneline I think," he said.

Bauer was aggressive throughout the race spending plenty of time at the front of the peloton, firstly in chase of standout rider Subway's Michael Vink who had an early solo break which held until the final lap, and then with the select group of twelve, then the final four.

"I thought the conditions were perfect," said Bauer who had been concerned about the weather predictions of heavy rain throughout the race.  The rain did come, and hard, but only during one lap in the first half of the race.

Bauer, who is heading to the UK team Endura this season, credits his time in Belgium last year for his improvements.

Many were surprised when the 24 year old finished 2nd in the Club Nationals, 2nd in the Tour of Southland, then backed it up with a win in the Festival of Cycling road race. Today the ex mountain biker proved himself in the top level of road cycling in New Zealand.

"To try and ride at a high level is something you have to put a lot of time into. I went to Belguim and just improved my game heaps.  I came back last year, club nationals, Tour of Southland, and now this," he said.

"It's a quality field. I am stoked. It was a pretty tough race. The course was easy but the climb was hard."

After helping ensure the four man break stayed ahead of his chasing U23 competitors, Bici Vida's Tom Findlay let the Elite's battle for their win before crossing the line for his own classification victory.

"I rode a pretty good race but you are limited in what you can do on your own," he said.

Dean, a strong sprinter, said he suffered cramp on the push to the line.

"I wasn't really confident about my race condition because I've just had a month off. But I got cramp in the final 150 metres – otherwise I believe I could have got up to win."

More articles about today's action soon...

• Tom Findlay NZ Under 23 Champion
• Raboplus Elite National Championships results