Patience pays off for young Kiwi international

Hamish Elley-Brown takes the win ©Jean-marie Picard

Aug 18th, 11. 18 year old Hamish Elley-Brown is five months into his first season as a Kiwi international - this weekend he had his best two days of racing and secured his first victory.

"It was an amazing feeling coming into the finishing straight and taking the win in an emphatic fashion," he said of his solo success.

On his season to date, Elley-Brown quoted the late 14th century French proverb - 'qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'achieva' - 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained'.

Earlier this year, straight out of Auckland Grammar School, Elley-Brown set off for a season in France with team VC Morteau Montbenoit.

He arrived with good form after a solid NZ summer of racing under the direction of his coach Aaron Strong. He quickly earned some good results and came close to winning several times, but never quite managed 1st place.

"I tried to stay positive and kept telling myself to be patient although at times it still wasn't easy," he told RoadCycling.co.nz. "It got to a bit of a boiling point around late June when I was just getting nowhere because I was stressing too much about racing and just wasn't enjoying riding my bike."

He managed to take his mind off racing for a few days when his parents visited in July. Elley-Brown travelled with them and took in some of the Tour de France action - the break proved exactly what he needed.

Successful weekend of racing 

"A change of scenery and a bit of time away from Morteau was just what I needed. I have had a much better mentality since then and have not been stressing about racing at all, which I think goes a long way to getting results. After last weekend there is no doubt that has been the case!"

First a second

Elley Brown ©Jean-marie Picard

"I positioned myself well and managed to come into the final corner 2nd wheel. The rider on 3rd wheel pulled a dirty wee move when he tried coming up my inside, he got me really off balance so I ended up coming into the final straight a lot slower than I should have,

"I still managed to roll in for 2nd. Instead of throwing my toys out of the cot, I got ready for an onslaught the following day."

Then a first

The next day he raced the Prix de Valfin/les St Claude, 13 laps of a 7.8km circuit, and it was there he took the victory.

"I was feeling fairly relaxed before the start, aware that I could take the win but not trying to dwell over it too much, just ride the race as smart as possible and if it worked out that would be cool," he shared.

"We seemed to get all four seasons in the race, raining one minute then glaring sun the next. The race was similar to the day before, mostly flat besides a 300m climb coming to the finish each lap and a few rollers around the back of the course."

"It was clear everybody wanted to race hard from the start with too many moves to count on both hands coming and going. I was in a couple of moves but nothing seemed to stay.

"It got to the point where everyone had pretty much lost hope of getting away, which I knew was the perfect opportunity to attack.

"After coming past the finish line to start the 10th Iap I attacked the bunch hard. At first nobody came with me, but I put my head down anyway and established a gap.

On the attack ©Jean-marie Picard

"After a couple of kilometres I looked back and saw four riders bridging with the bunch out of sight so I sat up, had a drink and waited for them. We all started riding well together and never saw the bunch again."

A caffeine boost made him feel worse rather than better, but he was still confident he had a good chance of winning against his companions.

Elley-Brown was the first of the breakaway riders to attack - and the last. With 4km to go on the last lap, he rolled through as if to take his turn on the front - and powered ahead, giving it everything he had.

"When I sat back down I looked over my shoulder and to my pleasure I had established a 10sec gap on the other guys. From then on I just went for it and held it off by 20sec to 2nd.

"It was an amazing feeling coming into the finishing straight and taking the win in an emphatic fashion.

"I saluted pointing to the sky to show that it was power from above that had got me through the hard times and brought me to victory at last."

In addition to the success of crossing the line first, Elley-Brown also added enough points to his season's tally to step up into a Category 1 team for 2012.

"I will never forget the road to my first win here and how much it has helped me progress as a rider, and dare I say it as a person," he said.