Young Kiwis raced until exhaustion at the Worlds

Oct 2nd. 10.  The result sheet shows a DNF, but those three letters don't do justice to the race the youngest two members of the NZ team had at the Worlds today.

Crum was 20sec behind at the top of the 1st climb of the race ©RoadCycling.co.nz

At 19 and 21, Courteney Lowe and Emma Crum were the youngest of the six rider New Zealand squad for the 128km UCI World Road Championships Elite Women's race in Geelong today.

In women's racing there is no U23 category, young riders race alongside their more experienced peers.

For both Kiwis it was their first Worlds, a great opportunity to race against the world's best riders and to show why they were picked over the growing number of NZ's elite women cyclists. 

Unfortunately for Crum, her hopes of a good result were dashed when she hit bad luck after just 6km.  

She was caught behind an early crash on the start of the first of eight ascents of the main climb.  By the top she was already 20sec behind, a big gap in a field this strong.

From then on Crum rode an incredibly gutsy race as she fought and fought to regain touch with the peloton, and to find a safe wheel to rest behind.

"I got caught behind a crash on the first hill, and then after that I was just constantly chasing back on.  And then getting on just before the hill and then getting dropped because I was tired from chasing back on," she told RoadCycling.co.nz after the race. 

"It was probably one of the hardest races I have done."

Crum rode the next five or so laps solo, as if it was time trial.  She got a huge amount of support from the crowds right around the course, and not just from the Kiwis.

Lowe's expression shows the pain of the climb ©RoadCycling.co.nz

On the second to last lap Crum looked exhausted as she crawled, once again solo, up the final drag to the finish line before pulling out of the race.

"It was really bad luck to get caught behind that crash," she said, while adding it was a great experience to be part of.

Courteney Lowe also had a gutsy race.  While all the other members of the NZ team had raced a season internationally this year, Lowe had just a couple of international race experiences to call upon, yet she held her own for the first half of the race.

As the peloton flew up the two climbs each lap, and dropped down the super fast descents, Lowe enjoyed being part of the world's best peloton.  It wasn't until the start of the fourth lap that her legs told her they had had enough.

"The bit that I did was hard.  It was towards the end of the fourth lap, I just felt like shit. The first couple of laps the hills were fine," she said.  "Then I got to the top, and my legs just seized up.  I don't know what happened."

She chased back on a couple of times, but by the time she made it up the second of the climbs that lap, her reserves were empty.

"I  got back on just before the hill before the feed station, and I thought I was going to fall off my bike.  I just did not feel good. But it was really good. It was cool fun," she said of the experience.

RoadCycling.co.nz has a great gallery of photos of today's race to share - but they might not get published until we are back in NZ with fast internet speeds!