Kiwi News

McCauley makes a break in the women's tour

Feb 26th, 10. Gordon McCauley tactics lit up the NZCT Women's Tour of NZ when his Handy Rentals team were half of a four rider break who managed to hold off the surging peloton to the line.

The start of the successful four rider break with Hill-Willis out front and Brownlee chasing ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Today's Stage 3 included three laps around the rolling countryside of Ashhurst before a 5km flat push to the finish line in Palmerston North.

McCauley, a multi-time NZ Road Champion and current NZ TIme Trial Champion is in his first role as a Team Director and he wanted his Handy Rentals composite team to be aggressive today.

"I said to them last night, I didn't come down all this way to see them ride in the bunch. I wanted to see them attack!" McCauley, who has done a fair bit of attacking himself this year, told RoadCycling.co.nz

Before the neutral flag had time to be folded up in the race director's car, Handy Rentals' Gayle Brownlee took off. She managed a gap of 17sec before the peloton woke up and pulled her back in.

"As soon as the flag goes down I want you guys one off the front, and if that comes back, next one off the front. Attack and attack," were the instructions Brownlee said McCauley gave.

Once Brownlee was shut down, teammate Naila Hassan attacked and gave it another go.

"We were told to go Gordy style today. And we said what's that? He said go attack from the gun," Hassan shared.

When Hassan was caught, a third Handy Rental rider, Rachel Mercer, attacked, but again the peloton denied her a breakaway opportunity.

When the peloton had reached the first lap of the three lap circuit it was Cyclosport's Emma Crum turn to attack but her breakaway was denied by the USA National Team on the front of the peloton.

On the second lap Yvette Hill-Willis (Litespeed) attacked and just as Director Sportif McCauley had told them to do, Brownlee went off in pursuit.

Handy Rentals have their turn leading the break ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"Gordy had talked us up about the race," Brownlee told RoadCycling.co.nz after the finish line.

"I saw the first attack go away and I thought about it and talked to Naila and she said it wasn't a good time with the hill coming up."

"Then the attack came back and then I saw Yvette go, and I thought she had been saving herself a bit and can sit up all day, so I just got a gap, took a flyer and nailed it."

The two become a more sustainable four when Handy Rentals' Sia Svendsen and Prime Estate Team's Irene Digenis bridged to them.

"Sia and Irene came through - the cavalry - and saved us. It was awesome. We just hammered and hammered," Brownlee said.

Danish Svendsen was the highest placed on the GC. Her 2m deficit to tour leader Shelley Evans was enough for the USA National Team not to worry too much, as they allowed the group to sit comfortably at 40s, although they initially had a 1m20 lead.

Svendsen was the least experienced in the breakaway group. She is a mutli-sporter who raced the gruelling endurance Coast to Coast event just two weeks ago and who only took up bike racing last December.

Digenis wins Stage 3 ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"This is overwhelming, I have only been bike racing since December and I don't really know what side to rotate on etc. I just don't have the cycling experience," she said.

The four worked well to motivate each other and although they didn't know the peloton had revitalised themselves and were right behind them on the fast tailwind sprint to the finish, the quartet had enough gas left to take the first four places on the line.

It was Australian triathlete Digenis who took line honours ahead of Hill-Willis with Brownlee in 3rd and Svendsen 4th.

"I had no idea the [bunch] was that close. If I had known I would have pushed the girls a bit harder. We were very, very lucky that we got it in the end. It was good to get the win," said Digenis who has been cycling for two years after a career in triathlons. Today was her first cycling win.

McCauley, the Team Director of the day, gets the final few words, "That was *#%^ awesome,*#%^awesome."

The riders don't get to relax after today's stage, they have an individual time trial later this afternoon.

All results will be published once they are available. There were no changes to the leader jersey classifications.