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Tales from the (Kiwi) Peloton
Team MGZT's Tour of Southland diary
New Zealand, November 3-8, 2003
With abominable weather, hellish crosswinds and a motley crew of internationals on the start line for this year's Tour of Southland, the five boys from Team MGZT knew they were in for a challenge. Crew member Mikkeli Godfree relives the experience.
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After flying a dinky little plane from Christchurch to Invercargill, in which some of us had a few of the controls to the aeroplane, we burst down into the cold and wet town we would call home for the week. After a seemingly obligatory - airline misplaces bike and refinds later - we finally had our team Bianchis in hand by 4pm the day before the race was set to begin.
With four-fifths of the team in attendance, we headed out to recon the hill which would be the site of Monday afternoon's finish. In driving, horizontal rain caused by the 50 knot winds (in which we found ourselves doing 15kph downhill) we did our best to stay on the road… though unsuccessfully, as one particular gust took two riders off into the grass where numerous sheep were negotiated. We did make it to the hill eventually… but more about that later.
Sunday night would see us at the team presentation which was a colourful affair giving team directors a chance to show off their kits and trash-talk a little - the highlight of which was one team manager who asked his team to turn around so he could tell the rest of the race they had better get used to the view… It was great to meet the guys we would be racing with, one team of old lads who were praying for abominable weather to weed out the youngsters and another whose team outfit included blond Mohawks. However with Jeremy and Matt Yates, Gordon McCauley, Scott Guyton, Julian Dean, Hayden Roulston and Greg Henderson flying the NZ colours and a motley crew of internationals, the battle for the jerseys would be a fierce one. For everyone else, the battle to stay warm, sane, on the bike and in the race would provide enough of a challenge.
Stage 1 - November 3: Invercargill Team Time Trial, 8.0 km
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There isn't a whole lot I can tell you about the Team TT that you can't read about in the race report but blimey, the weather was great, if a little windy. A highlight was definitely the hundreds of schoolkids out on the 4km circuit of which we did two laps. They were screaming their heads off for us… it was great. MGZT had a solid morning, coming sixth after a dodgy start. Notable performances were courtesy of the Zookeepers; they were flying, absolutely flying, allowing McCauley to take the yellow for stage 2. Another notable was Julian Dean who showed us he was not just being humble when he told the media that he was in 'off-season form, ' as he got dropped by his flying teammates - no shame in that - a huge year of results preceded this tour. Something I should mention also is the tendency of these kiwis to TT on fixed wheels with disks… they love it.
Stage 2 - November 3: Invercargill - Bluff, 86.0 km
With a the sun still out and the wind really ripping through the town, we headed out into the flat land surrounding Invercargill, but not before we did a five or six km tour of the town where yet again, deafening primary school kid roars welcomed us at every turn. Leaving the din behind the race began and started in earnest right away with a stinking crosswind stringing the 90 rider field out over hundreds of metres and sending people off the back immediately. The 80km race was pretty much decided in the first 4km as a front group established itself while the bunch split into four behind.
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Our young gun, Joel Pearson, was up in this front group trying to secure the sprint jersey and a GC position and the rest of us were plastered all over the road as the field detonated. A feature of the early part of the race was us coming around a corner to find a stubborn cow parked itself in the middle of one of the rough roads we bumped around on. It was a special moment and we would be surely be on the front page of the Southland Times newspaper the next day.
As the field fell to pieces, so did the weather and the heavens opened. The wind was so strong that to get a sit you had to be next to the guy leading you… it was carnage. The only consolation was that the road we were on, which headed toward snow-capped mountains, was turned-off soon enough and we started to head toward what was rumoured to be one of the hardest 2km climbs around.
Accordingly, the rain was rolling in fast as the hill loomed. It was rumoured that a few riders in the top-ten in 2002 walked up the hill so you could imagine our concern. For the 25km leading up to the berg, you could see a slick, black road leading straight up and with the rain coming down there were doubts floating about in the bunch.
Indeed, after passing a big white polar bear by the road (we thinks), and doing a little tour of the Bluff docks, we headed up, up and away. Having been to the site of the San Francisco GP (or the T-Mobile GP), I can attest to the fact that the start of this berg was very similar and the second half of it was even steeper. The second half was a hill to behold. The road was wet, we were finkled, and it was steep! Guys in the top 15 had to walk some sections of the last kilometre, some put in attacks by walking faster, many others walked, many zigzagged, many were pushed by spectators, some rested only 100m from the line but all were relieved to finish. The great thing about this tour is that there is an hour TV coverage of the day's racing each night, so you really can appreciate how the front guys were motoring.
I personally have never seen anything so insane… except maybe the weather that has lashed us here in the hotel since the finish! This race may be out to break our souls but the race organisation is doing everything to keep this from happening. As I just finish this up, the race director just rang to see how we were going, how we liked the stage and to apologise for the weather… good service, and fingers crossed for the weather in the days ahead… I suppose it's what you get at the southern most point of the country.
Stage 3 - November 4: Invercargill - Tuatapere, 113.0 km
With the rain chucking down, the green jersey to defend and ten sprints in the first 18km, we had our work cut out. The first sprint was about 1km after the neutral so there was a lot of control car bumper-scraping. Sure enough, the first half- hour was a real trial with some juicy legs being given no reprieve as we tried to lead Joel out and stop his competitor from gaining a point. We did a pretty good job and our main man took out a few and increased his lead.
All that was before the cops stopped the race on the main road and told us all to ride on the left hand side of the road - the side where the belting south-westerly winds were coming from… fat chance of that. Luckily, 400m after we were restarted, the race flicked onto a small country road and there was a sprint, more crosswinds and the race split up into four groups. We thought the race was over and was happy to hear over the radio that Joel was in the front group and was able to take five sprints in a row. Stuck at the back with Julian Dean and some other quality riders, there was little shame in watching the race go up the road, but we pulled turns nonetheless and after 50km in whipping rain, snow and skin-piercing hail we found ourselves tacking onto the front group in time for the first KOM… and then sun came out!
From here on, we tracked up the coast where we were lashed by onshore winds but were honoured to have fantastic views up to the snow-capped mountains… 'rugged' is the word and if we weren't chewing our head-stems trying to get Joel up for another two sprints, we would have been able to appreciate the view slightly more.
Oh, and again, how many schools can a country region have?! Answer: heaps. They were out in force again and couldn't get enough of it. We began to realise that the race organisers had people go ahead of the race with a PA system to gee up the kids for our arrival… a nice touch. They were really great to have out there and gave us corridors of noise to spur us on.
Anyway, the race split again after the sprints and we rolled in for a lunch stop before starting the 86km afternoon stage… damn. MGZT boys Mikk and Simmo were in the Dean, McCauley, Roulston group until 3km to go when Mikk went hunger flat. An arsenal of PB gels and bars couldn't help him that late though and he lost a minute and a half in three km. A couple of hundred schoolkids wanting high-fives down the finishing chute got us all home though… hope they could get us through the afternoon!
In other news, up front, Joel had really stamped his name on the green jersey and was up to 8th overall on GC. We spent the time between stages in the local pub munching on PB recovery drinks, coffee courtesy of the Zookeepers Café team van (which was spectacularly equipped to caffeinate any tour riders requesting it) and hanging out with the locals whose pub was being transformed for one unsuspecting hour in November into something quite different.
Stage 4 - November 4: Tuatapere - Winton, 81.7 km
How things can change. Despite the sun staying out, and a generous rest of about an hour and a half, this stage was a killer for us. A group of eight or so went up the road with the rider placed second in the sprint comp. We rode on the front with the Zookeepers to bring it back only to hear Joel tell us over the radio that his heart was freaking out and he was dropping back to the doctor. Almost instantaneously, Andy Graham, our import for this race, radioed in to say he had been stung by a bee and was dropping back for medical assistance.
Damn, what an afternoon! Joel was sorted out by the Doc (he has tachycardia which plays up every so often) and two of us dropped back to ride him home, but Andy was in a bad way (having found out the night before he was carrying bronchitis) and rode in by himself… a far cry from his earlier form this year, but these things happen. Anyway, we rode in with a group of 15 other blokes who were hooped and were well under the time cut-off and hopefully rested for the next day… hopefully. Andy was not so lucky and was outside the elimination by two minutes…non-negotiable apparently. Bronchitis, bee-sting… it couldn't get worse. It could have actually - Joel could have lost the green jersey, but he didn't and still has a comfy lead on second place.
Stage 5 - November 5: Lumsden - Crown Range, 136.8 km
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Finally a great day met us as we pulled back the hotel curtains in cosy Invercargill: blue skies, little wind and a great course. We would head north into those snow-capped peaks that I keep banging on about up to famous Queenstown where we would spend the night.
With a forgettable day yesterday, we had 130km of great racing to come and a green jersey to defend to make amends. Just for a change, a bunch of schoolkids, who seemed to outnumber the population of the New Zealand, greeted us and sent us out into the snowy and savage hills.
The wind came up but we were actually stoked to have a block headwind for the day. This mean that, as opposed to the last two days, the field would not be decimated in the early stages… a nice change, along with the weather.
With Joel 15 points up in the sprint comp, we worked for him to get him some early points. I must say though, as the stage progressed, we had a little trouble concentrating on the race as the scenery was spectacular. We found ourselves climbing into a valley with a huge lake in the middle of it, several hundred metre-high precipices sporting snow to each side. It was truly fantastic - a far cry from the seaside crosswind-fest from the last two days.
The road traced the side of this great lake for ages toward Queenstown as we had steam-trains, horses and farm-buggies ride next to us. The bunch was fairly well behaved with the Zookeepers team setting a solid tempo on the front. Notably, yesterday's winner Gordon McCauley nominated himself as "timpo butch"… whatever that means. They were really drilling it - one had to wonder if they weren't overdoing it.
The day passed without incident until we hit Queenstown, wheresome guys dropped themselves heavily on a narrow bridge. Then, with 20km to go and after the bunch regrouped, we dropped down to a gully into a cloud of dust being kicked up by the TV helicopter. He hovered for the whole minute as we approached, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was coating the race in a few inches of dirt. Through the dust, Matt Yates lit the race up and tore it apart in one fell swoop. After smacking it out of the gully and setting it up for his bro, he went backwards faster than a speeding bullet and ended up over half an hour down… but his brother went on to win the stage and strengthen his hold on the leader's jersey.
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We tapped in with a small group after getting hooped but it was not an easy run. We had a 1km climb that would have been far easier and faster to crawl up. It was phenomenally steep and testament to the organisers' masochistic tendencies… lucky it was sunny. The only other obstacle was a 3km climb up to the finish that, once ascended, would afford great views over Queenstown.
It was actually a funny little climb up as we had a jovial bunch to roll in with. We decided at the bottom that it was bad etiquette to split our bunch so we made a pact that anyone who did would be blacklisted. A few seemed not to care for our group decision and went up the road while we duly noted their numbers. But with 1km to go, Julian Dean rolled up behind us and went to ride through. Promptly, someone told him about our agreement and with a grin he slipped back in for a chat.
After one of us dropping a mono up the finish chute to show the 15%, 3km berg hadn't hurt too much, we debriefed and found that today had actually been enjoyable, sunny (we even got sunburnt!), the green jersey had been further secured and the roll-in was quite pleasant. We had reached the tour halfway point and some work to do in the coming days - bring on the sun, head-winds and great scenery.
Stage 6 - November 6: Balfour - Riversdale Time Trial, 15.0 km
We had a great night dining in, and checking out, Queenstown on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, we packed up for the drive down to Balfour for a double-stage, an ITT and a road-race. The drive back south traced the road we had raced on the day before and being able to give the scenery some decent attention was great. Huge black clouds were rolling over the severe mountains as we skirted around the deep lake below.
By the time we reached the TT start though, we were back in the flat country and the clouds had mostly gone. The wind was up though and the 15km tailwind TT would be won in under 16min. With a fair bit resting on this stage for the TT, some lads were pretty serious - the rest of us were going to take it pretty cruisy as there was no time limit set for the TT.
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This meant that we could rest up and put all our efforts into the afternoon's stage where there were 17 sprints up for grabs. So, we cruised this one, Rob sat at around 130bpm and averaged about 48kph… the winner averaged 57 (apparently in a 56x11)…almost his age actually, as he was the oldest guy in the race at 49. Oh yeah, and he's a grandfather!
When we pulled up in Riversdale for lunch, the local restaurant opened its doors to us and for two hours it became a team changeroom. It was very Euro and a true example of the evermentioned 'southern hospitality'. It was with much reluctance that we stepped out for the second stage of the day with the rain starting to come down.
Stage 7 - November 6: Gore - Invercargill, 104.5 km
As I mentioned, with 17 sprints in this stage, a breakaway rider could pick up 51 points in the green jersey comp and be within six of our main man. Also, the second-placed rider in that comp, Karl Murray, was super-keen to take the jersey so it was our job to thwart his attempts.
As it bucketed down with rain for the first hour it was ON and we were all over Murray like a rash and tried to break his spirit early by taking first and second in the first sprint. After that, we were happy to let a break go up the road and take the points. There was a little pressure back in the bunch for the first two hours but nothing too serious.
The only challenge was giving Joel a wheel and chasing back on, which was hard after doing a lot of work in the sprints early on, but that's our job so no complaints. And it was made all the more easy by the fact that Julian Dean was riding back to the bunch from the convoy. After seeing us battle back up, he did a great job of taking us all the way to the front of the bunch with a little smile. Top bloke.
Thankfully, for the middle hour of the race, the lads switched it off as a few riders went 4mins up the road. We cruised for a while, but with 30km to go the boys got angry and started to race. On the fourth day of the tour, the frequency and intensity of the attacks was amazing. The side-winds had come up and the field got lined out all over the road.
The pace was so high that the breakaway riders' lead started to drop rapidly. Within ten km we had demolished their lead to about a minute. As we turned into the final 18km crosswind run into town, we had the leaders in sight and chewed them up soon after.
Everyone was smashing each other and as we heard over the radio that we would be in the gutter all the way in, the hearts sank, the only consolation being that the leaders had been caught and we were sprinting for the win. Somehow the race managed to stay together and with one km to go we pushed ourselves onto Greg Henderson's wheel. With 800m to go there was some serious push and shove going on and we took Joel out to the left.
When we broke left though, Robin Reid realised he wasn't going to increase his GC position but increase his chances of coming to grief, so he pulled off, but took us left in the process. This thwarted our run to the line and with 500m to go we had missed the boat. Henderson ended up winning the stage with NZ team pursuit rep, Peter Latham, in second. We were a bit miffed about messing up the chance at a stage win but had achieved our main goal for the day in further securing the green. Besides, it may as well have been a swimming race though with the amount of rain coming down …we were truly back in Southland.
Stage 8 - November 7: Winton - Te Anau, 180.0 km
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With only two days remaining, Joel hungry for a stage win and to the green jersey to defend, this 180km monster was always going to test us. What we didn't count on was being woken up by deafening thunder-claps and lightning at 6am. It was dumping down while the weather report confirmed that this would set the scene for the day with coastal winds reaching 110kph. Ouch.
However, by the time we reached the start, the roads were wet but the sun was out. The race was out of the blocks as per normal with Joel's adversary lighting it up early. In keeping with our plan, our man took out the first sprint while second placed Murray and his teammate kept the pressure on after the sprint. As these three went up the road, Joel's helper, Mikk, jumped across to even up the numbers. With four at the front and 170km left to race the bunch sat up. After a few km we were joined by five more riders and began to establish what would become a five minute lead, not before we dropped Murray's team-mate meaning he was outnumbered: one to our two.
Our main interest was the sprints and with six in the first 100km we tried to cut a deal with Murray ensuring we took first and third in the sprints so he could take second but he wouldn't take it. He would rest up before the sprints and attack us, so Mikk covered him and took the points away from him in the first four sprints while Joel kept working the break. Murray's stubbornness did pay off as after the day he moved a few points closer to Joel, about 16 points down.
With the Cycle Surgery team being mercenaries for the Zookeepers back in the main group, they held our front group of nine to around three minutes as the weather turned nasty. After 100km on our own the wind was whipping down from the huge, snowy peaks in front of us bringing down stinging cold rain and at one point we were all swapping turns in the little chain ring at 25kph. Doing this pace, on the fifth day of the tour, 120km into a 180km stage, having been up the road for most of it…we were a little delirious. At one point a helicopter flew alongside us, landed in a field and our teammate, Andy got out and cheered us on. Joel and Mikk both looked at each other and decided it must be an illusion - only photos to the contrary would later change their minds.
At this mind-bending and slow rate we were still holding off the main field but as the main climb loomed at 130km, we were swallowed up and most of us spat straight out the back. It would be a long ride in… too long for some, including Julian Dean who pulled the pin after showing incredible commitment to NZ cycling by hanging on in this unrelenting tour after such hard year - hats off. As the riders dribbled in to the beautiful lakeside and mountain-foot Te Anau, it started to snow as if to remove any doubt about how epic this tour really is.
Up front, the Yates had yet again faultlessly defended Jeremy's lead and, with only two short stages to come, the tour looked to be sewn up. Such sentiments led to a 'relaxed' night among the lads which saw the running of the annual stage 8.5 (the Red Bull Nude Night Criterium) which was won, not by the first across the line but by the rider who impressed the Red Bull girls the most according to their undisclosed criteria. It was quite a sight and a fitting end to a ludicrously hard day in the saddle.
Stage 9 - November 8: Te Anau - Mossburn-Lumsden, 79.8 km
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Having survived the previous day and having seemingly secured the green jersey and a few sprint $, we set out to enjoy this final day. Our plan was to pick up a few more sprints and try to set Joel up for a stage win. How a plan can go so wrong…
Sunshine greeted us for the last day and as we rolled out we discovered a 60kph tailwind was to our advantage. Under any other circumstances this would be desirable, but with the time running out in the tour, the pace was blistering. Immediately, our sprint-jersey threat went off the front in a breakaway and proceeded to take all the sprint points on the road while all we (and our non-functioning legs) could do was watch him ride away. His stubbornness had paid off and after this stage he would have amassed enough points to be equal to Joel on points and led on a count-back! We thought we had it sewn up and had totally underestimated his strength.
This story was paralleled by the race for the yellow jersey as Scott Guyton took off up the only climb of the morning. Watching the TV coverage that night, it was amazing to see Scott take the race by the horns. He climbed in (what looked to be) the 53x12 for the last 700m of the climb, rode across to his teammate Glen Mitchell and then proceeded to put 1'10 into Yates who only had Blackgrove for help, his other team-mates having cooked themselves in the previous days trying to control the race. It was a truly phenomenal ride on a relatively short and flat stage. Guyton had ridden the 80km in 1hour 33mins and had all but won the tour.
Stage 10 - November 8: Winton-Browns - Invercargill, 64.4 km
As I'm sure was the case with the Zookeepers team van, the MGZT van was silent for the transfer to Winton, the start of the final stage. Our antics and high spirits had been the elixir that had got us through this tour but to have our five day hold on the green jersey taken from us in one fell swoop was devastating. We had taken it for granted and were hungry to take it back on one hand, but worried we didn't have the legs on the other.
The Zookeepers team were equally as motivated to take the yellow, while the Southland Times guys were enjoying the fruits of their morning coup and wouldn't budge. Not surprisingly, the start of this stage was a ball-tearer. Both our team and the Southland times guys wanted to keep it together, us to take any sprint points and then let a break go, and them to ensure their yellow was secure. Zookeepers, on the other hand, wanted to smash it to pieces and by the time the first sprint came at 4km, there was only 25 or so left at the front. The course mocka was out and both Joel and Murray missed out on points.
The next sprint came at 8km and after some solid pacemaking, we organised a lead in the gutter with Rob Young, Mikk Godfree and Joel, with Murray glued to his wheel. Despite our fatigue, our hunger for the jersey got Joel up for the win while Mikk managed to hold of Murray for second. Joel was secure again and set about covering Murray.
For the next ten km, Murray was attacking Joel for the green and when they were caught, Yates would attack Guyton for the yellow. The wind and rolling hills made these two battles extremely intense ones. However, as we rolled into the finishing circuit of 12km in Invercargill, both Joel and Guyton were happy to let a group go up the road to decide the stage. As Fraser McMaster took the stage over Greg Henderson, the race for the jerseys was finalised behind and we rolled over the line to finish the six-day, 880km tour.
Before we even stepped off our bikes, the Rabobank team manager was handing us a beer, one in the hand, one in the bottle cage… and the tone was set for Saturday night.
Saturday Night
The presentation wasn't a bad prelude to quite the night ahead, a rambling MC did little to dampen what was a great atmosphere amongst all of the riders. A highlight of the night was definitely the prize ceremony where the lantern rouge (last rider) received an award and a t-shirt which read: "Caution: Cycle race ahead" on the back. A very nice touch that summed up the race organiser's relaxed approach.
Well, we will have to leave the diary there as if we wrote anymore, well, that would be telling. And there was plenty to tell.
We would like to thank our new Bianchi XL Carbon bikes which made some incredibly harsh roads silky smooth, PB energy and recovery products which helped our bodies through the intense tour, BBB sunglasses which helped keep the rain, road-grit and also sun out of our eyes, Carnac shoes, Veloflex tyres (sticky and fast), our Chiro-masseur Katie who kept our bodies functioning, Manager Rob, Cook Rebecca and Bruce Ross (and his crew) who organised the Tour of Southland and showed amazing hospitality, and finally, the new MGZT car which made our tour possible.
Stay tuned for a few more diaries before Christmas, thanks for reading.
Photography
Images by Mikkeli Godfree
- Maxing and relaxing before the opening TTT prologue.
- Chewing the fat before take-off.
- Joel Pearson, showing how well the green jersey matches his kit.
- Mikk Godfree trying to find the path of least resistance before stage 5.
- The Tour of Southland heads for the snowy hills en route to Queenstown
- The gradient steepens on the way up to Crown Range lookout.
- Climbing out of Queenstown, 50 metres from the finish of stage 5.
- Joel Pearson and Julian Dean punching tickets up the hill.
- Up close and personal with Joel... maybe too close.
- I'm not going outside, not in that weather.
- Punching out the fast ITT at 50kph.
- Joel Pearson - It's not easy being green.
- The view of Mt. Cook flying out of Christchurch. Thanks Southland, we'll be back.
