08 Jan Elite Nationals: Team Race Reports

Highlights – U23 Champion, 2 podiums and 5 of the top 6 u23’s.

Key Words – Smarts, Tenacity, Toughness, Aggression, Battler

Smarts

The highlight of the Elite Women’s Road race for the Mike Greer Homes Womens team was the impressive and well deserved U23 victory and an impressive 3rd overall for Grace Anderson!  From the very beginning it was clear Grace had winning intentions with great positioning and smart tactics saving her best for the final two laps of the city circuit when the effects of the hills, heat and wind always come to the fore.  Finding the right wheel on the final ascent and then following Sharlotte on the descent and sprint to the finish was always going to be a winning move but doesn’t come easy with Grace having to put it all on the line to hold that position for the win!

It was clear to see Grace has learned plenty from her time overseas racing the professional circuit in the US with Team Illuminate and the ability to position well and the patience to wait for the right moment.  Well done Grace and a very inspirational win for our team and Team Illuminate – we look forward to seeing you race the NZ National team jersey during the year.

Tenacity

Joining Grace on the podium was Lydia who showed fantastic tenacity and perseverance once again to be in a great position in the final few laps.  We love this never say die attitude and is what makes true champions. As we know with Lydia she knows how to finish and showed her smarts once again with a 3rd place and on the podium two years in a row!  These race smarts and tenacity are why we see Lydia as such an important part of our team and the leadership structure for 2018.

Toughness

Already a National champion from the day before Georgia Catterick just missed the podium in 4th and along with Mikayla showed aggressive racing and an extremely positive attitude to the race.  It was clear to see they were not happy to sit in and just race for the U23 jersey – they both were approaching this as a race for overall honours and played a big part attempting to chase Georgia Williams in the cross winds and initial city laps working hard with the likes of Kate, Rushlee and Hannah who were keen to get a chase going. Unfortunately, with the race within a race the sting was taken out of the chase.

Aggression

Mikayla like Georgia also showed a super aggressive and positive approach to the race working very hard in the cross wind chase and was one of the main instigators of attacks on the hills during the first 4 inner city laps which blew the bunch apart – in retrospect maybe too hard with the big efforts taking their toll during the 5th lap when she lost contact but still battled on for a very respectable 5th place.

Passion

As a first year U23 Kate Smith knew she was in for a very hard first hit out at the National Elite champs with the best field of women riders ever assembled.  Kate as always was there to learn and never afraid to put in the hard work. Doing very well to stay in touch until the inner city circuit we love the passion she showed hanging in their while on the ropes in the cross wind chase and then battling it out over the inner city circuit and working hard with her team mate Rylee never giving up.  The learning from this and the heads up and head start before heading into battle on the world stage at TDU next week will be crucial for Kate.

Battler

Rylee knows how to hurt and is a crucial member of our team when the chase needs to go on or a rider needs to be sent off the front.  Unfortunately for Rylee losing contact on one of the final descents in the rural circuit and then chasing hard to recover the peloton came when the attack went and the field was strung out along the coast.  Rylee found her composure and worked hard with her group to try and regain contact. Battling to the end is what we love to see!

The Future Looks Bright

So what more could a team DS ask for? We are super happy with the result but more importantly the way the girls raced and the approach to the racing.

As Kate Mcilory pointed out the huge increase in the competitiveness of women’s racing in NZ is impressive and this race is testament to that fact. In wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of the imagination with the inspirational ride from Georgia and how this will drive our riders to reach higher that NZ WILL have its very own world tour women’s team in the near future!

Why not?

team work

Kate and Rylee working hard