The 88th Stonewood Homes Gore to Invercargill road cycling classic was raced in perfect conditions on Saturday with a small but competitive and in-form field in the open handicapped grade.
The early pace was put on by Erin Criglington who was able to capitalise on her efforts taking out both the Tuturau Sprint and Seaward Downs Hill Climb prize money.
A superb ride from Under 19 Josh Miller saw him break away from his group with 20km to race and he went on to catch the remaining bunches ahead and ride on past for the win and $500 first prize from Stonewood Homes.
Not to be out-done – father Wayne (Hori) Miller came through the finish line just 1min 22sec behind for second place with Aaron Sinclair in third, Emily Paterson the first woman finishing fourth and Alan Strong in fifth and Dave Beadle in sixth.
Fastest time and winning an additional $500 from Stonewood Homes was elite rider Josh Haggerty, second fastest time was Fraser Hewett and the fastest junior went to Conor Shearing.
In the Junior Division race, it was a huge, first-time victory for young Hadley Sheehy who had a victory in brilliant style with Frankie Thomson second and Hunter Thompson third. The fastest time went to the hard-working and classy racing of Marshall Erwood.
Huge thank you to all the usual suspects – Lindsay Jones, Robin Criglington, Kenny and also huge thanks to our after function BBQ hosts Dave and Joss Beadle, along with Brendan Kerr for jumping on to cooking duties with the tongs. Special thanks to Craig Sadlier for the awesome donation of refreshments and additional snags for the cook up – legends!
Then it is to say a massive shout out and thank you to Stonewood Homes and the Akeroyd family for the truly generous sponsorship and ongoing support of the country’s oldest club cycling classic road race – words cannot express our gratitude.