Twenty-one year old Auckland rider Ella Wyllie claimed the 2024 UCI Elite Road Championship in Timaru yesterday.
After a classy group of riders pushed clear mid-race, it finally came down to a frantic final sprint, with Wyllie edging out time trial winner Kim Cadzow and under-23 MTB world champion Sammie Maxwell.
Wyllie, who impressed many finishing seventh overall on general classification at the recent Tour Down Under in Australia, used that experience in her effort yesterday.
Oamaru rider Reef Roberts made it a rare double to claim the road race honours after winning the time trial.
Roberts, who knows the roads in Timaru well, had to work hard early on as the peloton brought back the break in the 122.5km, five-lap race in cool conditions.
As things hotted up, a select group went clear at the front as Roberts edged out Lachlan McNabb and Carter Guichard in the sprint finish.
Today is the under-19 female road race over 73.5km, followed by the combined under-23 and elite male road race over 196km.
— Staff reporter
