A southerly turn just before the start of the 92km sealed road circuit race meant a cold, wet tail wind for the first half of the race and a strong head wind for the second.
A large group broke away about 5km out from the finish line, Godsall said. With about 2km to go, Invercargill cyclist Peter Bulling broke away from them to win ''quite comfortably''.
Carlos Lara, of Dunedin, was 21sec behind in second place and Paul Gough, also of Dunedin, was another second back in third.
Not far behind them, another five cyclists from the leading group crossed the finish line en masse in a time of 2hr 26min 22sec. Another five followed suit a second later.
Concerns were expressed last week about repairs to the Luggate bridge which had been causing punctures for some cyclists, but there were no such issues yesterday.
All competitors had been warned about the bridge and the 30kmh speed limit before the race.
The cycle challenge was the final event of five in the Cromwell Summer Series, organised by the Cromwell and Districts Promotions Group.
There were 160 cyclists last year.