
It was a weary but “super stoked” smile worn by New Zealand’s Aaron Gate today after he won the opening stage of the 2019 Grassroots Trust New Zealand Cycle Classic, the UCI 2.2 five-stage elite men’s cycle tour being held entirely in the Waipā region.
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Aaron Gate – can’t beat winning in your first race
Racing for the newly formed Irish EvoPro Racing team, who are making their debut for the 2019 season, Gate won the 132km stage in 3hr and 48 seconds in a sprint finish with St George Continental Cycling team’s Mathew Zenovich. Gate’s team mate, Dutch sprinter Wouter Wippert finished third 1min 02 secs later. Defending Tour champion Hayden McCormick (Team BridgeLane) crossed the line in seventh place overall while U23 rider Ethan Batt was the first New Zealand National team rider home.
Gate, 28, said he was super stoked to take the stage win following a hard day in the saddle. Along with Zenovich and Drapac Cannondale’s Liam Magennis, the trio formed a breakaway about 30km into the Lost Lake Loop (Cambridge – Kaipaki – Roto o rangi – Leamington). At one point, the trio extended that lead to five minutes, before Magennis dropped off the front at the 100km mark.
Battling windy conditions and a chasing peloton, Gate and Zenovich worked hard together out in front to maintain their lead, however Gate gave called on his track pace that carried him to gold in the men’s Madison last weekend at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Cambridge to surge clear with 100m to go and take the win.
“That was a great reward for a hard fought day … we are stoked to get the stage win for a new team in a new season,” said Gate. “It was definitely hard. The wind made things challenging and it was not my intention to attack the way we did but once we formed that breakaway it was all go. At one point we had five minutes on the peloton and at another point I thought they’d catch us but I did the calculations … and I knew we were in for a shot.”
EvoPro manager Morgan Fox, from Athlone in Ireland, was thrilled for his riders. “It’s fantastic! Great work to have two racers on the podium on the first day. It’s a dream start. We came here with the ambition to take stage wins and perform well on GC,” said Fox.
Gate’s high work rate was further rewarded when he picked up the BNZ Sprint Ace jersey and now wears the yellow jersey heading into Stage two tomorrow. Zenovich was also rewarded with the Three Peaks Manuka Honey King of the Mountains Jersey and the Most Aggressive Jersey.
For EvoPro, Gate’s win today is a continuation of the fine start to the season their team has enjoyed in New Zealand, with Gate having already won the SRAM Tour de Ranges on the road as well as World Cup gold with the NZ National Team. Luke Mudgway, 20th in today’s stage, comes to the Cycle Classic on the back of victory in the Gravel and Tar Classic ahead of Ryan Christensen and teammate Cyrus Monk; both of whom are present in this year’s Cycle Classic.
Race director Jorge Sandoval was thrilled with how the opening stage went on the new course in a new location. After being staged in the Wairarapa for the last three years the 2019 event is being staged entirely in and around the surrounds of Waipā.
“I thought it went very well today. The support was great and it was run very efficiently. Great to see EvoPro start their new season with such style and they’ll have a good lead heading into tomorrow, but it’s a long Tour and anything can happen,” said Sandoval.
Being held simultaneously with the Grassroots New Zealand Cycle Classic is Three Peaks RIDE New Zealand’s Cycling Festival, a week-long festival encouraging people of all ages and stages of cycling to get out and ride more regularly. These two events have been made possible thanks to the generous support from the Brian Perry Charitable Trust and the Waipā District Council.
Stage results:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time |
1 | Aaron Gate | EvoPro Racing | 3.00.48 |
2 | Mathew Zenovich | St George Continental Cycling Team | +0.02 |
3 | Wouter Wippert | EvoPro Racing | +1.02 |
4 | Stefan Bissegger | Swiss National Team | ST |
5 | Theodore Yates | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
6 | Dylan Kennett | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
7 | Hayden McCormick | Team BridgeLane | ST |
8 | Blake Quick | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
9 | Cameron Ivory | GPM Stulz | ST |
10 | Yasuharu Nakajimakin | KINAN Cycling Team | ST |
11 | Thery Schir | Swiss National Team | ST |
12 | Liam Cappel | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
13 | William Green | AMR Renault Racing | +1.04 |
14 | Joel Walsh | GPM Stulz | ST |
15 | Hayato Okamoto | AISAN Racing Team | ST |
16 | Jay Vine | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
17 | Scott Bowden | Team BridgeLane | ST |
18 | Zack Gilmore | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ST |
19 | Liam Edwards | AMR Renault Racing | ST |
20 | Luke Mudgway | EvoPro Racing | ST |
21 | Madi Hartley-Brown | Mobile Communications Services | ST |
22 | Jack Walsh | Mobile Communications Services | ST |
23 | Michael Vink | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
24 | Benjamin Metcalfe | Team BridgeLane | ST |
25 | Michael Torckler | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
26 | Lukas Ruegg | Swiss National Team | ST |
27 | Reece Tucknott | Team Skoda Fruzio | ST |
28 | Shane Archbold | EvoPro Racing | ST |
29 | Kota Sumiyoshi | AISAN Racing Team | ST |
30 | Blake Tait-Jones | Mobile Communications Services | ST |
31 | Daniel Busbridge | Futuro Pro Cycling | ST |
32 | Masaki Yamamoto | KINAN Cycling Team | ST |
33 | James Krzanich | Mobile Communications Services | ST |
34 | Liam Magennis | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
35 | Harrison Bailey | GPM Stulz | ST |
36 | Ethan Batt | New Zealand National Team | ST |
37 | Christopher Miller | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
38 | Tobias Orchard | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ST |
39 | Jake Marryatt | AMR Renault Racing | ST |
40 | Lionel Mawditt | Team BridgeLane | ST |
41 | Cyrille Thiery | Swiss National Team | ST |
42 | Thomas Green | GPM Stulz | ST |
43 | Ollie Jones | Team Skoda Fruzio | ST |
44 | Liam White | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
45 | Cyrus Monk | EvoPro Racing | ST |
46 | Connor Reardon | AMR Renault Racing | ST |
47 | Jordan Louis | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
48 | Thomas Bolton | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
49 | Shotaro Watanabe | AISAN Racing Team | ST |
50 | William Hodge | Oliver’s Real Food | ST |
51 | Samuel Bascombe | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
52 | Fintan Conway | Oliver’s Real Food | ST |
53 | Jayden Kuijpers | Team Skoda Fruzio | ST |
54 | Jim Okudo | KINAN Cycling Team | ST |
55 | Nick Miller | Futuro Pro Cycling | ST |
56 | Jesse Featonby | Oliver’s Real Food | ST |
57 | Campbell Jones | Oliver’s Real Food | ST |
58 | Morgan Smith | Team Rauland | ST |
59 | Kees Duyvesteyn | Team Rauland | ST |
60 | Paul Wright | Team Rauland | ST |
61 | Taj Jones | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ST |
62 | James Oram | New Zealand National Team | ST |
63 | Benjamin Spenceley | AMR Renault Racing | ST |
64 | Reuben Soares | Winger Suzuki | ST |
65 | Daniel Whitehouse | EvoPro Racing | ST |
66 | Cameron Layton | Futuro Pro Cycling | ST |
67 | Frank Pasche | Swiss National Team | ST |
68 | Theo Gilbertson | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
69 | Thomas Lebaskin | KINAN Cycling Team | ST |
70 | Christopher Williams | Futuro Pro Cycling | ST |
71 | Riley Fleming | GPM Stulz | ST |
72 | Ben Hamilton | New Zealand National Team | ST |
73 | Martin Oliver | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
74 | Dan Furminger | Winger Suzuki | ST |
75 | Alex Heaney | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
76 | Thomas Hubbard | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
77 | Daniel Gandy | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
78 | Kai Chapman | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | ST |
79 | Joseph Cooper | Team BridgeLane | ST |
80 | James Harvey | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
81 | Alex West | Team Skoda Fruzio | ST |
82 | Cameron Roberts | GPM Stulz | ST |
83 | Carter Bettles | Futuro Pro Cycling | ST |
84 | Field Rylee | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
85 | Jordan Kerby | New Zealand National Team | ST |
86 | Calvin Standrill | Winger Suzuki | ST |
87 | Damian Monierais | AISAN Racing Team | ST |
88 | Frank Sutton | Winger Suzuki | ST |
89 | Blake Sunde | AMR Renault Racing | ST |
90 | Regan Gough | New Zealand National Team | ST |
91 | Jensen Plowright | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | ST |
92 | Yudai Arashiro | KINAN Cycling Team | +11.25 |
93 | Ioan Fuller | Mobile Communications Services | +11.58 |
94 | Alastair Christie-Johnston | Team BridgeLane | ST |
95 | Gene Richards | Team Rauland | ST |
96 | Clinton Edwards | Oliver’s Real Food | ST |
97 | Matthew Webb-Smith | Winger Suzuki | ST |
98 | Samuel Hill | Team Nero Bianchi | ST |
99 | Logan Griffin | GD Pringle/Spoken Cycles | ST |
100 | Nicholas Thornley | Team Rauland | ST |
101 | Max Jones | Team Skoda Fruzio | ST |
102 | Sam Cook | Futuro Pro Cycling | +15.15 |
103 | Ryan Christensen | New Zealand National Team | +20.37 |
104 | Joel Yates | Team Skoda Fruzio | +23.45 |
DNF | Bradley Jones | Mobile Communications Services | |
DNF | Tomohiro Hayakawaais | AISAN Racing Team | |
DNF | Amarni Drake | Pro Racing Sunshine Coast | |
DNF | Hiroshi Tsubakikin | KINAN Cycling Team | |
DNF | Shaun Flazaranorau | Team Rauland | |
DNF | Callum Pearce | Oliver’s Real Food | |
DNF | Carne Groube | Winger Suzuki |
General classification after stage 1:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time |
1 | Aaron Gate | EvoPro Racing | 3.00.36 |
2 | Mathew Zenovich | St George Continental Cycling Team | +0.05 |
3 | Wouter Wippert | EvoPro Racing | +1.10 |
4 | Stefan Bissegger | Swiss National Team | +1.11 |
5 | Theodore Yates | Drapac Cannondale Holistic Development Team | +1.14 |
6 | Dylan Kennett | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
7 | Hayden McCormick | Team BridgeLane | ST |
8 | Blake Quick | St George Continental Cycling Team | ST |
9 | Cameron Ivory | GPM Stulz | ST |
10 | Yasuharu Nakajimakin | KINAN Cycling Team | ST |
For more information please visit www.cycletournz.com.