Great final race for Southern Series decider

On Saturday Joe Chapman won the 75km Waide Classic but Southlanders really made their mark in the overall final results.

The scenic circuit departed from Fairfield, heading to Waihola and over the hill to the picturesque fishing village of Taieri Mouth before passing through the coastal settlement of Waldronville and returning back to Green Island. A large contingent of Southlanders helped ensure the season finished on a high note and cyclists were treated to perfect, sunny conditions and stunning scenery.

Chapman, a class act, who is currently leading the prestigious Benchmark Series, started on scratch with Alex McGregor, Josh Haggerty and Brad Evans. The break had 2.5 minutes on the group but scratch caught them ascending the long, steep hill out of Waihola then passed the next bunch on top of the hill. Now a peloton of 10, it was obvious that they had the horsepower to work through the rest of the field on the undulating journey from Taieri Mouth. Before Brighton they reined in the last of the limit riders, Hilary Lennox and, ahead of her, Therese Duncan.

Coming up Waldronville Hill, Alex McGregor, fresh from winning last week’s Shiel Hill race, and talented master’s cyclist Paul Gough, broke away and threatened to steal the show. However Chapman and Southlander Josh Haggerty were able to chase them down. McGregor and Gough kicked again 500 metres from the line to open up a 30 metre gap. To Chapman’s delight, the duo hesitated in the sprint and this window was all he needed to power through for the win, with Haggerty in second, Southlander Nick Kergozou third, Gough then McGregor, lamenting the missed opportunity.  

The race was the last in the Southern Points Series and Southland’s totally in-form Haggerty was first elite male overall – continuing his winning streak of late, with Saturday’s fastest female, Elyse Fraser, taking out the elite women’s series title.

Southlanders took out the rest of the awards with Shirlene Rollo winning the master’s women’s title, Max Anderson the masters men’s title and Nick Kergozou the open men’s section.

Results from the Fairfield-Taieri Mouth- Green Island Handicap are listed below: