Defending champion George Bennett is relaxed and refreshed after a rare summer at home, as he readies to defend his national jersey at the Grassroots Trust Elite Road National Championships in Cambridge this weekend.
The elite men’s road race will conclude the championships, which form part of the popular RIDE NZ Cycling Festival, taking place in Cambridge.
The festival comprises the public time trial this evening, the Championship Time Trial on Friday 11 February, the Gran Fondo public ride on Saturday 12 February with rides over 30km, 87km and 165kms and the Grassroots Trust Elite Road National Championship Road Races on Sunday 13 February.
The now veteran UCI WorldTour rider is in great space mentally and after his victory last year, is less concerned at the outcome this weekend as he prepares for an exciting year with his shift to high profile UAE Team Emirates.
He takes on a small field of 12 riders for the 42.5km time trial on Friday which included ascent and decent of the climb at Te Miro, ahead of the 144km road race on Sunday, highlighted by four climbs up the infamous Maungakawa.
“I’ve had a really good training block. It’s not often I get a couple of months to just train and not be interrupted by races,” said Bennett.
“It was super good to get home because I have had three of my good mates’ weddings, a family Christmas, new babies arriving all that stuff so it has been really important for me to be home and part of all that. It has set myself up mentally for the year.”
While he is in a time of considerable change after seven years with Dutch-based Team Jumbo-Visma.
“It has been a completely different approach for me so I have no idea how I am actually going. I have a new trainer and probably couldn’t be further apart from how I used to train. It takes some adapting but it feels like it is going pretty well.”
And he feels the win last year has taken pressure off.
“There’s always pressure on a race but way less for me this time. A lot of the times, it does not matter if you are the strongest in the race, the national champs is out of your hands in a number of ways – the way others race.”
While the previous championships in Cambridge have taken in the well-known hills north-west of the town, race manager Stephen Cox of Dynamo Events has tweaked the courses each year, and this year has included the famed climb of Maungakawa on each lap.
The elite and under-23 women will complete three laps of a 36.5km loop for 109kms while the men will transverse the major climb four times with their race over 144kms.
Each lap includes the early climb of Maungakawa, with each lap comprising 488m of elevation gain, including the major test up Sanatorium Hill, which rises 260m over 3.5kms.
“While the climb is important, equally there is a lot of fairly flat riding after it to complete the lap, so who knows how it will pan out. You have to play your hand, be as strong as you can - but it is not always about being the strongest in this race. You have to enjoy it as well. I can’t honestly say which way the race will go.
“Black Spoke need to win this race more than I do. It is their race to lose – they have half the elite field and it is their biggest race of the year. There’s a lot more pressure on them to get a result.”
There are 72 riders in the men’s field – 36 in elite and 36 in under-23, with the Bolton Equities Black Spoke team with eight starters led by multi national champion James Fouche and in- form Olympian Regan Gough, while Logan Currie will be a serious contender in under-23 competition.
There are other strong teams with St George Continental led by Ollie Jones and Campbell Pithie and MITOQ-NZ Cycling Project with outstanding mountain biker Ben Oliver.
Other individuals to watch include a pair of outstanding under-23 riders in Finn Fisher-Black, who has joined Bennett at UAE Team Emirates, with Laurence Pithie and Reuben Thompson, who are part of the famed French WorldTour organisation, Groupama FDJ.
The Championship Time Trial starts from 10.30am on Friday with women’s road race from 8am and elite men from 9.55am on Sunday with start and finish at Tom Voyle Park in Cambridge. Under the Covid Red Light rules, there are no public at the race.
Photo Credit: Dave Lintott Photography
DETAILS: Livestream coverage of elite road races can be found on www.eliteroadnationals.nz on Sunday 13 February from approximately 10am for women and 12.30pm for men with commentary from Rushlee Buchanan and Tim Gudsell.