Atkins climbs to his 2nd Benchmark victory

May 9th, 10. The NZ U19 Club Champion won today's Benchmark Homes Series Round 3 race from Hanmer to Kaikoura and dedicated the victory to the life of one of his team's main supporters.

Josh Atkins wins again ©Grant Stirling / Stirling Images

Atkins was the first up the final 2km climb after his Benchmark Homes team worked hard to catch a late breakaway group.

He outclimbed Taylor Gunman (Bici Vida) and Hamish Tomlinson (H and J Smith Outdoor World) to the Ocean Ridge Estate just south of Kaikoura to earn the top step of the podium.

Today's Benchmark Homes Series win is the second in a row for Atkins, and the third for Benchmark Homes Team.

"Investing time into developing talented young riders and teaching them how to race as a team has paid dividends yet again for the Benchmark Homes Cycling team," said race organiser Paul Dahl.

James McCoy took out the first round in Nelson with Atkins winning Hokitika and today's Hanmer to Kaikoura round.

Understandably the team is leading the team classification.

Atkins, who won the U19 race at the Club Nationals in great form last weekend said he wasn't too sure how he would go today as he'd been sick since then.

"But, my results have been good lately, so I just wanted to keep it going before I head overseas to start my build up for the Track World Championships," Atkins said.

"It was a fast start today as we left Hanmer, but our guys were covering everything right from the start."

Atkins was lucky to avoid the mid peloton crash after 45km which disrupted the flow of the bunch and sent Hokitika CYB racing team stalwart Chris Yeats to hospital with a suspected broken collar bone.

"I was lucky to avoid the crash as my wheel went sideways and I thought that might be the end of my day," said Atkins.

"The bunch seemed pretty content to just roll along and not do too much, but I knew the course reasonably well, so when we descended into the gorge and across the Conway River I knew it was quite a hard climb up the other side, so I attacked there, using accelerations to break up the field."

"A group got away before we hit the main road into Kaikoura and I thought the race was over, but [teammate] James McCoy kept it pretty calm and we knew as we hit the main road we had about 23sec to catch them. We caught them as we hit the bottom of the hill and we just went hard out and kept going. I kept an eye on the riders behind me and knew they were chasing, but kicked away at the last bit."

"This win was for Bruce Cartwright, one of our main supporters who died tragically last week from a sudden illness," said Atkins.

"I figured I'd win this one for him."

Bici Vida enjoyed a great race

2nd placed Taylor Gunman from Bici Vida paid tribute to the course and the organisers when he updated RoadCycling.co.nz after the race.

"Boy was that an amazing course. Well worth the trip!" he said.

Gunman explained Bici Vida's plan was to set up an early move to force the Benchmark team to chase. Mark Langlands,  Shem Rodger and Paul Odlin all spent time off the front until a break finally stuck.

Gunman's role was to stick close by Atkins all day.

"When Benchmark had to chase the break in the dying 10km, for me it was all about staying safe and ready for the climb. Benchmark timed it perfectly, catching the break at the base of the climb. With the slight hesitation from the bunch when we caught them, I thought 'ignorance is bliss' and launched an attack right at the bottom."

Unfortunately for Gunman, Atkins followed and eventually passed him by.

"I had to try to hold on and try to come back at him, but after going maybe a  wee bit early I paid for it in the last 100m."

"It was great to see how well the team rode and communicated throughout the race. The professionalism from other teams and the race organisers is really setting a high benchmark for NZ racing which is great to see," Gunman told RoadCycling.co.nz

Women's race

Warmup Cycling Team were looking to back their best hopes for Category 2 team points before today's race with Amanda Minty in the women's race and Brent Harris, Michael Ferigo and David Roche in the Category 2 master's section.

As the race neared Kaikoura, Minty was still neck and neck with eventual women's winner and overall women's series leader Jeannie Kuhajek (Tasman Wheelers). She finished 2nd.

"There was Brent, Jeannie, a CYB racing team member and me," said an elated Minty. "It's my birthday today and I felt 21 at the beginning of the race, but as we started that final awful climb to the top of the Ocean ridge estate, I felt every year of my Master 2 (40-49) age group!!"

"When we knew Amanda was in with a chance of a win, David Roche went back to help her," said Warmup Team Manager Kelly Chapman. "It's great to see the guys looking at our best options and working for the team – in this case the women's race points".

The race was all together at Waiau, but as the course became more technical with steep descents and tight uphill climbs after the Mt Lyford turnoff, the race started to split apart.

Kuhajek won ahead of Minty with Tasman Wheeler's Karen Fulton in 3rd.

"Karen Fulton had a bad day today, I think the Nationals last week took it out of her, but with Jeannie Kuhajek winning again and Karen third over the line today, we are still on top in the women's points for the series," said Gary Overend, Tasman Wheelers Team Manager.

Top results

Round 3

• 1st Men - Josh Atkins, Benchmark Homes
• 1st U23 - Josh Atkins, Benchmark Homes
• 1st Woman - Jeannie Kuhajek, Tasman Wheelers
• 1st Cat 2 - Ian Smallman
• 1st Masters -  Mark Spessot, Cycle Surgery Race Team (Provisional)
• Team -  Bici Vida
• Div 2 Team - Warmup Cycling

• Leading Man - Josh Atkins, Benchmark Homes
• Leading U23 - Josh Atkins, Benchmark Homes
• Leading Woman - Jeannie Kuhajek, Tasman Wheelers
• Masters -  Mark Spessot, Cycle Surgery Race Team (Provisional)
• Overall Team -  Benchmark Homes
• Div 2 Team - Warmup Cycling (even points with Mico All About Plumbing)

Related article

• Benchmark Round 3 results 
• Atkins wins the U19 Club Nationals road race