Aaron Gate and Olivia Ray achieve victories at Manawatū’s Gravel and Tar Classic

It may have been a long way from the smooth surfaces of an Olympic track or US highway, but Aaron Gate and Olivia Ray still reigned supreme at the Gravel and Tar Classic in Manawatū on Saturday.

The duo, both winners of the November National Criterium Champions in Christchurch, added to their resumes by taking the UCI 1.2 event from Feilding to Palmerston North, which features five roughly 40km gravel sectors and is considered the road race toughest single day in Oceania.

In a star-studded 164km men’s race, it was Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy rider Gate who outgunned his teammate Luke Mudgway in a two-man race to the finish.

The duo were part of an early 10-man getaway and escaped into the third gravel sector, a 2.5km stretch with 35km to go.

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“That was amazing. A great race, the most fun I’ve had in a road race,” said Gate, a former omnium world champion, who is looking towards a third Olympiad, after bronze and then fourth in the chase. by teams, in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

“It was really tough on the gravel sections and I was a bit surprised that we ended up with only 10 of us surviving after all the first attacks. It was great to be able to go ahead to a 1-2 for the Black Spoke team with Luke [Mudgway].

“The good thing is that the form is going in the right direction for the Tokyo Olympics, which is the main objective. The next thing for me is to have a good chance at the national championships next month before going to Europe, hopefully, for some road races.

For Mudgway, it was a second straight second place, after winning the event in 2019.

The Vantage New Zealand pairing of Ryan Christensen and Finn Fisher-Black were two minutes behind, in third and fourth place respectively, closely followed by teammate Corbin Strong, the 2020 track cycling points racing world champion who He has been named to the Olympic team. for Tokyo, and who took victory in this month’s New Zealand Cycling Classic.

Superstar George Bennett finished eighth, 6:44 behind Gate and 2:32 behind defending champion Hayden McCormick, seventh, in what was a rare appearance for him on the roads of New Zealand.

The Team Jumbo-Visma rider, who returned to New Zealand last month and was released from quarantine on December 30, had said he didn’t expect to be overly competitive. The 30-year-old will also compete in the national road championships in Cambridge on February 14 in a year in which he plans to skip the Tour de France to focus on the Olympics.

In the 87km women’s race, rising star Ray claimed victory two seconds ahead of her Vantage New Zealand teammate Sharlotte Lucas.

Ray, 22, who signed a first professional contract with the Rally Cycling team, had been racing in the US and studying at Savannah College in Georgia, but returned to New Zealand last March due to the Covid pandemic. -19.

She and Lucas were part of a getaway that got away mid-race along with Alicia Evans (Vantage New Zealand), Josie Wilcox (Black Dirt Collective), Kristy McCallum and Henrietta Christie (both (NZ Cycling Project).

The group was reduced to eight with 27km to go. Lucas punctured but was able to return to the leading group with 10 km remaining. Then, reaching the final, McCallum and Christie lost contact and Ray eliminated the sprint of a group of five.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “I have been racing in the United States for the last few seasons while I was studying and I have never raced on dirt like this. Everyone was respectful and it was difficult but very nice.

“The Vantage New Zealand team had a good group and we worked very well together today.”