By Michael Jacques
Glen Mitchell made light work of NZ's toughest cycle race on Saturday, winning Coromandel's K2 Classic.
More than 600 riders turned out for the annual 200 kilometre event, which in only its second year has earned the reputation as New Zealand's toughest road cycling event. From Thames, the course takes in a scenic but savage tour of the Coromandel that is renowned as much for the 1500 vertical metres of climbing as the unspoiled surroundings.
Glen Mitchell, however, didn't seem bothered with either. The Hamilton rider broke away on one of the tough climbs shortly before halfway. Good teamwork by his partners for the upcoming Tour of Southland kept the feild at bay, and Mitchell arrived back in Thames with more than six minutes in hands over former world junior champion Jeremy Yates (Hastings).
Behind Mitchell, who clocked 5.18.54 for the grueling 200km race, Rotorua's Marc McKay filled third ahead of last year's runner up Karl Murray (Akld). But these boys only had five minutes to spare on the first woman, Commonwealth Games cyclist Ros Reekie-May, who finished 13th overall.
Reekie-May (Hamilton) was never pushed, clearing out in the early kilometres to eventually finish 16 minutes clear of track cycling star Sarah Ulmer in 5.37.25.
Elite Men 1 Glen Mitchell 5.18.54 2 Jeremy Yates 6.15 3 Marc MacKay 6.17 4 Karl Murray 13.10 5 Steve Nicholls 13.18 6 Michael Jensen 18.25 7 Scott Strong 8 Johnathon Atkinson 18.27 9 Andrew Hawley 25.40 10 Richard McIvor 25.41 11 Adrien McCabe 29.56 12 Rhys Watkins 34.45 13 Brendan Cameron 14 David Herman 40.18 15 Adam Smith 48.05 16 Jeff Alexander 53.50 17 Syafik Ghamry 1.01.39 DNF Scott Guyton DNF Kirk Obee DNF Tim Gudsell DNF Matt Yates NTR Simon Hammond Elite Women 1 Roz Reekie-May 5.37.25 2 Sarah Ulmer 16.14 3 Jo Ryder 21.48 4 Jade Gilbertson 24.51 Classic Wom 1 Judy Barfoot 8.56.50 Classics 1 Wal Anderson 6.19.48 2 Ray Hewlett 6.00 3 Malcolm Dewar 7.12 4 Ray Lichtwark 8.27 5 John Burmeister 26.38 6 Greg Simpson 28.12 7 Bevan Brown 28.30 8 Malcolm Hogan 36.37 9 Peter Elbourne 39.22 10 Don Laurie 48.22 11 David Cumberlidge 58.44 12 Tim Reep 1.01.52 13 Ronnie Smith 14 Victor Timu 1.02.14 15 Peter Edwards 1.04.42 16 Garth Barfoot 1.12.52 17 Ken Vette 1.15.46 18 Ian Marshall 1.20.43 19 Kevin O'Brien 1.21.18 20 Windust 1.22.35 21 Neil Stanley 1.24.52 22 Charlie Fergus 1.28.02 23 Willem Kalkman 1.29.42 24 Barry Bridgeman 1.30.12 25 Les Friend 26 Michael Barnes 1.33.17 27 Malcolm Taylor 1.41.38 28 Stan Middlemiss 1.44.05 29 Cyril Hibberd 1.49.00 30 David Griffiths 2.08.12 31 Jim Goodwin 2.14.52 32 Laurie Wesley 2.19.52 33 John Boon 2.25.03 34 Russell Turner 2.41.42 35 Denne Parkinson 2.43.52 36 John Davey 2.56.42 37 Tau I Haka 3.07.12 NTR Vic Matthews NTR Ron Gee NTR Andrew Coker NTR Gill Kinnell Junior 1 Ryan Wills 6.50.14 2 Ben Buchanan 1.42 3 Grant Simmons 10.36 4 James Cave 22.37 Masters 1 John Bridges 5.32.06 2 Neil Harwood 5.15 3 Rodney Grant 5.16 4 Peter Sutherland 16.44 5 Paul Wills 6 Ray Marshall 20.24 7 Alastair Borwick 21.09 8 Neil Sutherland 21.22 9 Evan Smith 10 Rob McCleod 21.33 11 Steve Glasgow 12 Mike Bosomworth 27.08 13 Peter Holt 27.09 14 John Potter 28.03 15 David Carmen 28.04 16 Steve Ross 28.07 17 Nick Benton 28.09 18 Benny Deville 34.56 19 Neil Shaw 36.04 20 Simon Bittle 38.20 21 Jeff Jowsey 40.19 22 Grant Mathieson 40.39 23 Edward Smith 48.19 24 Simon Charlett-Green 52.20 25 Roger Creighton 52.56 26 Phil Carswell 53.34 27 Brett Slater 53.40 28 Peter Carrucan 53.41 29 Stuart Hill 57.29 30 Chris Brown 59.09 31 Mason Spiers 59.54 32 Andrew Frater 1.00.24 33 Guy Cory-Wright 1.00.29 34 Faalia Vaeau 1.00.30 35 Chas Stewart 1.00.31 36 Craig Dalton 1.00.37 37 Brett Rudd 1.02.12 38 Brian Mumme 1.04.41 39 Murray Cox 1.07.37 40 Ian Leslie 1.10.24 41 Blair King 42 Phil Yates 1.12.26 43 Warren King 1.13.20 44 Eric Obrien 1.13.27 45 Roel Van Der Berg 1.14.43 46 Ian Prouting 1.15.14 47 Bryon Mosen 1.23.16 48 Gavin Christensen 1.24.14 49 Mark Rycroft 1.24.15 50 Neil Wood 1.24.16 51 Udo Froetschl 1.26.14 52 Bruce Harvey 1.27.05 53 Alex Giesen 1.27.14 54 Tony Fisher 1.31.44 55 Michael White 1.40.51 56 John Williamson 1.40.52 57 James White 1.48.48 58 Duncan Taggart 1.48.49 59 Greg Way 1.49.34 60 Glynne Lloyd 1.57.24 61 Shane Robinson 1.58.22 62 David Hunter 1.59.34 63 Robert Taylor 2.01.24 64 Gavin Tasker 2.01.34 65 Andy Wudrich 2.03.22 66 Rob Whitehead 2.04.14 67 Nigel Culpan 2.05.42 68 Malcolm Law 2.06.24 69 Kevin Campbell 2.11.06 70 Robert Dowd 2.12.36 71 Andrew Castle 2.14.14 72 Thomas Ross 2.17.55 73 Mark Gilbert 2.18.34 74 Graeme Knowles 2.22.24 75 Paul Farrow 76 Darren Ellson 2.27.46 77 Ian Scott 2.27.47 78 Mike Sturgess 2.29.24 79 Murray Jackson 2.30.06 80 Wayne Doughty 2.31.12 81 Sean Harris 2.49.53 82 Terry Baucher 3.06.34 83 Robert Baker 3.50.54 84 Alan Ratford 4.05.54 85 Alastair Hubbard 4.10.54 86 Keven Grigg 4.13.54 DNF Paul De Rijk NTR Chris Button NTR Gary Foot NTR Gazza Leslie NTR Hendrik Oolstheysen NTR Mark Crowther NTR Steve Hunt NTR Philip Muldoon NTR Doug Latto NTR Tim Spicer NTR Richard Kerby NTR Garath Hodgson NTR Clive Barriball Masters Women 1 Maree Neil 7.21.40 2 Maryann Avery 3.40 3 Jo Taylor 13.35 4 Liz Robertson 25.10 5 Jo Pulford 38.09 6 Rose Sandison 1.20.20 7 Marianne Ibbertson 2.04.20 Open 1 Clinton Jackson 5.45.06 2 Cameron Holt 1.00 3 Nick Teebon 7.25 4 Blair Taylor 8.23 5 Phil Dickinson 8.56 6 Clinton Bramwell 9.18 7 Henry Barfoot 15.06 8 Michael Mayne 17.08 9 Marc Emery 25.18 10 Brett Wallwork 27.20 11 Todd Hewlett 27.28 12 Thomas Hills 27.32 13 Chris Andrews 27.44 14 Tony Morgan 31.12 15 Douglas Scott 36.14 16 Neil Mora 37.27 17 Paul Sills 37.48 18 Paul Needham 37.52 19 Matt Williams 37.53 20 Richard English 40.39 21 Matt Bent 40.42 22 Bevan Sutton 47.34 23 Paul Andrew 47.35 24 Gavin Cameron 54.36 25 Damien McKeown 54.38 26 Cameron McKeown 54.49 27 Michael Willis 56.26 28 Lance Gray 1.02.38 29 Michael Hoogeveen 1.04.04 30 Anthony Seagar 1.05.09 31 Tim Bodger 1.07.42 32 Craig Sheppard 1.10.43 33 Tim Pearce 1.11.03 34 Kieren Langley 1.11.06 35 Anthony Ng 1.13.04 36 Paul Singleton 1.17.24 37 Keith Mitchell 1.17.25 38 David Wignell 1.21.24 39 Simon Church 1.23.04 40 David Driscole 1.27.04 41 David Piscott 1.27.10 42 James Merrill 1.27.14 43 Darren Donnelly 1.27.52 44 Ed Kelly 1.27.53 45 Chris Wilkinson-Smith 1.32.43 46 Graham Webb 1.34.34 47 Tim Jones 1.35.47 48 Sean Mcelroy 1.36.34 49 Bruce France 1.36.56 50 James Stephenson 1.36.57 51 Kelvin Wirihana 1.38.04 52 Heath Davy 1.45.44 53 Mike Riddle 1.51.14 54 Jeremy Pearce 1.51.15 55 Dene Hall 1.57.53 56 Michael Walker 1.57.54 57 Graham Kristiffor 2.02.59 58 Darryn Faukner 2.03.14 59 Blair Holst 2.07.14 60 David McFarlane 2.14.44 61 Peter Cullen 2.20.12 62 Ian Palmer 2.39.24 63 Darryl Wannell 2.46.39 64 Chris Huggins 2.46.42 65 Richard Graham 2.58.52 66 Johnny Rodgers 3.08.09 67 Paul Field 3.12.09 DNF Grange Leeman DNF Jared Bond NTR Craig Manktelow NTR Mike Butwell NTR Craig McDonald NTR Neil Hilder NTR Luke Hampton NTR Blair Sutherland NTR Anthony Long NTR Brendon Lawry NTR Paul Philip NTR Martin Frost Open Women 1 Vickie Burr 6.20.21 2 Jo Gosse 5.24 3 Nicky Lindley 49.27 4 Virginia Johnstone 1.00.36 5 Belinda Gwilliam 1.23.25 6 Marianne Spriegl 1.39.30 7 Mirjam Besamusca 1.46.44 NTR Kathy Chambers Vets 1 David Archer 5.36.20 2 P M Delle Barce 8.11 3 Dave Chambers 12.27 4 Ollie Rolton 12.30 5 Greg Taylor 16.12 6 Roger Everson 23.54 7 John Cottingham 25.52 8 Doug Pulford 31.41 9 Evan Mackenzie 33.58 10 Don Humphry 34.06 11 John Badger 36.05 12 Bob Wilshire 49.25 13 John Ledson 49.29 14 Neville Jamieson 50.35 15 Eric Mackenzie 53.16 16 Frans Van Cappelle 53.55 17 Dave Bourchier 56.19 18 John Henderson 56.24 19 Nathan Livingstone 56.25 20 Paul Herbert 57.29 21 Ian Buchanan 1.00.25 22 Andrew Vanderwerff 23 Phil Robertson 1.00.26 24 Mike Dowsing 1.00.28 25 David Blanchett 1.00.29 26 Jeremy Chrismas 1.03.30 27 Chris Pilone 1.04.17 28 Malcom Fraser 1.04.22 29 Maurice Brown 1.05.09 30 Dennis Magness 1.08.32 31 John Williams 1.10.00 32 John Auckram 1.10.42 33 Andy Faithfull 1.11.55 34 David Loe 1.11.56 35 Ron Campbell 1.12.39 36 Nick Drinkovich 1.12.51 37 Jim Bolton 1.12.52 38 Kevin Luckie 1.18.37 39 Robert Flood 1.19.48 40 Denis Chatfield 1.21.10 41 David Park 1.23.00 42 Sel Brown 43 Graeme Campbell 1.24.00 44 Lindsay Hyslop 1.27.50 45 Paul Wilkinson 1.36.02 46 Rick Wood 1.36.27 47 Peter Mclean 1.36.39 48 Trevor Irwin 1.38.41 49 Warren Smart 1.45.41 50 Paul Berry 1.51.20 51 Ian Kelly 1.53.35 52 Nick Schouten 1.54.30 53 Mike Adair 54 Graeme Blackwood 1.54.31 55 Kevin Woolston 1.56.00 56 Crunchie Donaldson 1.58.54 57 Tony Anderson 2.05.39 58 Ross Bethell 2.07.25 59 Hugo Dost 2.11.55 60 Glenn Beattie 2.13.10 61 Thomas Dunn 2.13.30 62 David Solomon 2.13.40 63 Peter Barton 64 Terry Leigh 2.23.29 65 Martin Watt 2.24.40 66 Mark Attwood 2.26.56 67 Peter Langly 2.27.43 68 Phillip Brown 2.41.11 69 Murray Foote 2.47.32 70 Bill Van Der Viet 2.51.35 71 Michael Kelly 2.51.40 72 Adrien Trenholme 2.54.27 73 Phil Vonanthen 2.55.56 74 Phil Robinson 2.57.38 DNF Brooke Cooper NTR Trevor Phillips NTR Graham Dudfield NTR Barry Ashworth NTR Richard Coffey NTR Richard Lightfoot Vets Women 1 Linda Goldsack 6.24.27 2 Glenda Finnemore 1.39.46 3 Virginia Craig 2.39.13