Feb 9th, 10.  18 year old Jeremy Stephens talks to RoadCycling.co.nz about the recent Trust House Cycle Classic tour in Wellington, his first 5 day tour and first team based tour.

Stephens signs up for this first team tour ©RoadCycling.co.nz

At last month's Trust House Cycle Classic a strong field of 108 riders including Olympians, Kiwi internationals, and current and former NZ Champions lined up for the start of one of New Zealand's two UCI tours.  

Among them was teenager Jeremy Stephens, a first time rider in a team based event.

RoadCycling.co.nz met Stephens a year ago as a spectator at the Tour Down Under. When his name came up on the start list, we decided to follow his rookie tour.

Stephens had a great tour. Firstly he finished.  Secondly, he enjoyed a great stage where he finished with the top bunch and thirdly, the experience left him wanting more.

"It felt really good to finish the tour, apart from some mechanical errors which happened early on and left me out the back of the bunch and down on GC, just being able to ride with some of these guys was awesome. Knowing what they have achieved in races around the world, being able to finish with them is such a good feeling," Stephens told RoadCycling.co.nz

The mechanical he's referring to happened on Stage 1. After Stephens had a good ride up the Rimutakas he punctured on the flat after he'd worn through a tyre avoiding a crash.  

Unfortunately, he was already back in the convoy behind the neutral service vehicle and his team car was back further supporting a teammate who had struggled on the climb.  Without race radio he couldn't let anyone know he was waiting and he lost 17minutes on the side of the road.   Not a dream start.

Stephens' team was a composite team with four other riders he hadn't met before.  The five of them represented the spectrum of riders in the tour; the youngest and oldest in the peloton, from NZ and overseas.

The remaining three: Stephens, Craig Hoskin and Kevin Strongman ©RoadCycling.co.nz

After the second stage the team was down to three as Stephens learnt one of the first lessons of team racing - when one teammate does something wrong, the whole team suffers.

Two riders and the team manager were disqualified after being found to have gained unfair advantage by holding on to the team car for too long.

With just three riders and their support car relegated to the back of the convoy, Stephens said the team tactics were about gaining experience rather than chasing wins or jerseys.

"There were no serious team tactics worked out between our team, just small things like who would drop back to the team car and collect bottles. In my case it didn't really differ from other races, as I had friends around me and there was always someone to talk to in the bunch," said Stephens.

What was a little different was team-car feeding, something Stephens hadn't experienced prior to this tour.  He'd only done static feeding from the roadside before. 

Finishing with the main bunch ©RoadCycling.co.nz

The other difference was the length of the hills.  Stephens enjoys climbing, and he descends remarkably well, but only for 3kms. He said by the time he'd made it over the interim climbs on Stage 2 he felt he was going backwards up Admirals Hill to the finish.

"We don't have any climbs longer than 3km at home," said the Hawkes Bay based rider.

Before this tour Stephens' longest races were a couple of 120km events and a few junior three day tours, but he feels he was ready for this tour and had prepared appropriately.

"My body coped really well. As the tour moved on my legs began to get tired but that was expected and it happens to all riders no matter what their ability. When school finished my coach put me on a plan where I'd ride six days a week for about five and half hours a day. This got my body ready for the long days during the tour and taught me to recover quickly over night," he said.

On Stage 3, when fatigue for a first timer would be expected to kick in, Stephens had his best day of the tour.  On the fast paced stage he hung in there through the countless attacks to finish with the front bunch which, going by the grin on his face after the finish, he was quite proud of.

Stephens said he didn't know what to expect of his first major tour, but one aspect he was surprised about was the camaraderie within the team.

"I didn't really think I would get to know the other riders in my team as well as I did. I didn't think six men from different ends of the world would form such good bonds over a short period of time," he said.

Working hard on the final stage ©RoadCycling.co.nz

On what became the final stage of the tour, Stephens lost contact with the main peloton on the final Gladstone loop.  

The wind had strung out the bunch into single file and when a rider in front of him fell off the pace, Stephen's didn't have enough left in the tank to pull past and catch back on.  

He came in 10m after the leaders with a small group which included top Kiwi internationals Clinton Avery and Roman Van Uden. 

Stephens finished the tour in 80th place, +44m34s.  He was in good company. Around him on the GC were Tour of Southland riders and more experienced international riders, not to mention the 15 who didn't make it to the end.

"I'll be back next year hopefully with a lot more race miles under my belt," said Stephens who would recommend giving a team tour a go to other first time riders.

"Being in a team environment is a lot of fun. You get to know the guys around you really well and you know that you have four guys around you to help you across the finish line."

Stephens' next goal is the National Club Champs in May - they are in his home town in the Hawkes Bay.  Before then he's hoping to find his track legs for the upcoming National Track Championships.

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