The Sweet Taste of Victory

Sprezzatura is an old Italian word for being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort. It's a combination of elan and grace and class, sort of the opposite of loud grunts while you play tennis. Or in the case of a professional cyclist, letting your legs do the talking and winning bike races. All the while looking like you've just been out for a casual Sunday spin to the local cafe as you cross the finish line, preferably alone.

Yesterday at the Kapiti Cycle Challenge, Joseph Cooper (JC) demonstrated why he is one of the best hill climbers in the country, taking all three hill climb primes and the race win to boot. And this was the day after finishing a solid 4th at Le Race in support of Subway Avanti team mates Michael Vink and Gordon McCauley.

One look at the course profile below (green line) clearly illustrates why the Kapiti race is tailor made for climbers. A classic route used for many years at the Rice Mountain Classic before it was deemed too dangerous on the often narrow, open roads and one too many close calls with oncoming cars.


The race features three major climbs, Paekak (13km), Haywards (33km) and the Akatarawa climb, where the riders are effectively climbing from the 55km point through to 74km.

Departing Waikanae, the race was stopped in its tracks immediately by a northbound train, reminiscent of 2006 Paris Roubaix.

Underway again and aided by a northerly tailwind the race sped through to the base of Paekakariki Hill. Many riders were fighting for position, all wanting to be at the front for the lead in to the steep ascent creating chaos in the peloton.

Michael Naylor hit the bottom of the climb at near full gas and the race quickly went from a big mass of riders to a long thin line. The pace settled through the middle part of the climb before the speed ramped up again, Silas attacking towards the top with Backy taking over the tempo for the later part. 150 metres out from the summit Joe launched a searing attack to take the hill prime.



Onto the long descent a group of 5 riders, namely Joe, Silas, Backy, Michael Naylor and Finlay Brazier quickly established and shared the pace making. As Haywards approached Finlay was dropped, while Capital Cycles sponsored rider, Andy Hagan put in a big chase effort to bridge across on the Haywards climb.

This group worked well together and stayed intact through the Akatarawa's until approximately 25km from the finish where Joe made his move. After patiently biding his time, JC attacked from the back of the group on a short, sharp climb called 'pig hill'. He was never to be seen again.

A brief chase effort ensued from behind, but it was in vain as Joe rode away into the distance. The remaining quartet crested the top of the Akatarawa's together, but split apart on the technical descent into Waikanae. Michael Naylor crashed, but quickly remounted, while Silas utilised his freshly honed MTB descending skills to ride away.

Joe had a comfortable 2:30 gap to Silas at the finish, Andy pipped Michael for 3rd and Backy took 5th place. Lawny, not quite on his normal game after breaking a couple of ribs at the National MTB race a few weeks earlier was 6th.

Other GP riders in the results: Jono (28th – 2nd, 45-54 age group), Jeff (50th), Glenno (69th).

A really well run event, the GP boys will be back in force next year, thanks Kapiti.

Also, a huge thanks to Gary Nesbit (Nesport Photography) for kindly allowing the GP to use his superb race photos. Gary seemed to be everywhere on the course yesterday taking shots at the start, Paekakariki, the Aka's descent and on the finish line. To see more of Gary's sharp photography skills check out his website. Prints are available to buy online too.

Ben and Sarah from roadcycling.co.nz have posted a story on how the race unfolded on their website, check it out here.