King of the road

Champion Dunedin cyclist James Gardner holds yet another trophy with Cycling Otago president Joe Chapman. Gardner claimed victory in his home race, the Otago road championships, on Otago Anniversary Day. On a blustery evening in Outram, Gardner led off the front and never looked back at the stacked field of over 25 Otago A-grade riders. Gardner and Andrew Gillies (Alexandra) pushed clear in the first 5km from the bunch with a 30sec gap. Gardner, who has just turned 19 and is heading to North America with his New Zealand Cycle Project team in May, then showed his dominance and went solo for the remainder of the race, winning by over 1min 30sec. Hunter Gough finished second and Dimitri Demishev third. Promising rider Joshua Grieve (Dunedin) won the under-19 title, and Andy Connelly (Dunedin) claimed masters honours.