Yates tames the Auckland Harbour Bridge

Yates held on to take the solo victory ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Dec 11th, 11. Jeremy Yates rode across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, bridged to an early break, then attacked his way to victory in the HGM Auckland 1000 today.

"It was cool, it was a once in a lifetime experience," Yates (Mico Protrain) said of the opportunity to ride across the bridge at first light this morning.

The elite race of the TelstraClear Challenge doubled as the HGM Auckland 1000 with it's traditional $1,000 cash prize for the winner.

Once over the bus lined bridge, a group of seven riders broke free and Yates had to do a different kind of bridging.

Along with Taylor Gunman (PureBlack Racing), he worked to close the gap to the breakaway riders, succeeding just before the short gravel section.

As happened to many fun riders who followed the elites, the gravel caused punctures, and Mike Northey (PureBlack Racing) plus one other were dropped from the front group.

"From there we just got stuck in," Yates told RoadCycling.co.nz. "Nick Lovegrove (Subway Pro Cycling) attacked and was away for about 10-20km with Hamish Schreurs, but with about 30km to go we rolled back up to them."

Dion Smith (PureBlack U23 team) was the next to attack with a move which reduced the front bunch to just three - Smith, Yates and James Oram (PureBlack U23 team) - with 20km to go.

The three riders worked hard to keep the pace up for the next 10km, then Yates took off.

"I broke a spoke with 2km to go, and the boys just about caught me back again so it was real panic stations as to whether I would hold on," said Yates, but hold on he did. His time of 2h47m46s was 10sec faster than that of Smith who beat Oram in their two man sprint.

Waiting for the early morning start ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"It just kind of wore you down the whole way around, there is no one hard point like K2 or Taupo but you generally get really really tired.  It was really surprising to see Dion and James dealing to the older guys and still be strong at the finish. I was really impressed."

What Oram and Smth had that Yates didn't, was home town advantage.

"It was pretty cool to be able to race on the roads we normally train on, you know all the ups and downs," said Oram.

"For Dion the race literally went straight past his home's driveway. We knew what to expect, so in a way it made it way easier but it was still a hard race."

"I had a few people cheering me on which was great, " Smith agreed.

For Yates, the win made up for a less than perfect criterium on Friday night. He was more than happy to end the weekend on a high and to take a victory in Mico Protrain colours.

"It's absolutely fantastic to see Jeremy cross the line first today to take the win," said Mico Protrain manager Steve Elden.

""It's a good win for him and also the whole Mico-Protrain team after a very hard few weeks of summer racing with no real results.

"We know very well that that is bike racing - there are highs and lows to racing. We learn from defeat and it's days like today in Auckland that we embrace and share in our team. I love this sport and can't wait to get to the Elite Champs in just four weeks!"

Results