Timaru Boys’ High School fielded a 10 boy strong team for the South Island Secondary Schools Road Cycling Championships hosted in Timaru on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th July. The team was led superbly by Hayden Jefferson, and the team had a number of boys coming into the Champs in great form, some in their very first competition.

Day One was an Individual Time Trial over various distances depending on age group. Hayden Jefferson was the best of the team placing 5th in the Under 20 category in a time of 11 minutes 52 seconds over the 16km course. Kallum Puttick in his first time trial placed 18th in the 30 boy strong field which was an outstanding effort. The conditions for the day were extremely demanding with a strong tail wind down to the half way point and then return into the extremely strong head wind meant pacing yourself very difficult. All of the boys performed extremely well.

Results: Under 20 Boys

Hayden Jefferson 11.52 over 8km, 5th place

Sam Ritchie 12.47 over 8km, 16th place

Kallum Puttick 12.53 over 8km, 18th place

Benji Ward 13.52 over 8km, 25th place

Leroy Dunn 14.35 over 8km, 28th place

Harry Taylor 14.37 over 8km, 29th place

Results: Under 16 Boys

Ollie Smith 7.27 over 4km, 21st place

Thomas Allan 7.27 over 4m, 20th place

Results: Under 17 Boys

William Rawlins 15.43 over 8km, 20th place (first ever event)

In the Team Time Trial, conditions continued to be very windy and the youngest team which had to compete in the Under 20 category which has two boys from the Under 16 category performed extremely well placing 10th in a time of 25.33 over 16km. This was a superb team ride lead strongly by Thomas Allan and supported by Ollie Smith. The senior Timaru Boys’ A team placed 8th in a time of 23.24 over the 16km distance. The Team Time Trial concluded Day one.

Day 2 riders were greeted with extremely cold conditions and keeping warm proved to be real struggle. First up was the U16 Boys Scratch race, with ten laps of the Levels International Raceway. In a field packed full of elite riders, Thomas Allan and Ollie Smith rode superbly and managed to stay out of the crashes and managed to hold the main bunch in a very fast race. While finishing out of the placings, the 2 boys have performed extremely well. Thomas Allan finished in 12th place and Ollie Smith 16th place

William Rawlins was next up and unfortunately for William in his first race, he was in amongst a field with some of the fastest in New Zealand and they were there to prove a point to the rest of the field. William to his credit battled hard all race and this will see him learn and grow from this race, and bodes well for the future.

The pinnacle event was the U20 Scratch Race over a gruelling 17 laps (40km), again with a star studded line up, Timaru Boys’ were possibly overlooked by some of the bigger schools.

In a fast and surging race, the race tactics from Timaru Boys’ were superb. Sam Ritchie chased down every breakaway all day and protected Hayden Jefferson who led an attack with under two laps to go with another rider. Hayden then was left on his own as he dropped his fellow rider and had to ride the final lap and a quarter on his own with the chasing peloton, really upping their pace hunting Hayden down. Hayden fought extremely hard and was only chased down in the final 100m of the race to take a superb 2nd place, and Sam Ritchie then came in for 6th place - a fantastic recognition of his contribution to the race.

Other boys in this race were Kallum Puttick, Leroy Dunn, and Harry Taylor, all who found the pace of this race just a little too hot, however showing genuine guts and determination hung in there the entire race.

The entire Timaru Boys’ High School Road Cycling Team really performed extremely well and are a total credit to the school. The school should be incredibly proud of all the riders who have genuinely given there all over the the days of racing. The behaviour of these boys was impeccable, incredibly polite, respectful and courteous. The boys looked like a team, performed like a team and were an absolute pleasure to be around. Timaru Boys’ High School Road Cycling is set for some impressive years to come with the quality of riders they have, and with continued training and racing together will become a force in Secondary Schools Cycling.

Sincere thanks must also go to the parents for their ongoing commitment and support to this growing sport – your input is very much appreciated.

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