Two-time Olympic rowing champion Hamish Bond has won the inaugural Abel Tasman Cycle Challenge, defeating a field of quality riders that included Tour de France pro rider George Bennett. Bond laid down the gauntlet early and continued to power away through the 158km course to win by more than five minutes at the end in a time of 3 hours 51 minutes and 51 seconds.
Second was Ollie Jones in 3 hours 57 minutes and 10 seconds. Paul Odlin was third, Warrwick Spence fourth and Rob Reid rounded out the top five. Bennett eventually came home sixth. "I didn't really plan to go hard so early but I was feeling good and got stuck in about 10km out of town, kept the power on and was able to break away," said Bond.
"I did push really hard but I think that is an important part of becoming an elite cyclist and learning quickly.
"You have to make these huge efforts to understand where you are, what you are capable of as an athlete and of course, what areas you need to improve in going forward. "It was a fast course and I really enjoyed it." ABEL TASMAN CYCLE CHALLENGE - Men's Overall Top Ten 1 Hamish Bond 3:51:51 2 Ollie Jones 3:57:10 3 Paul Odlin 3:57:10 4 Warrick Spence 4:09:48 5 Rob Reid 4:10:29 6 George Bennett 4:10:41 7 Joshua Aldridge 4:10:59 8 Yancey Arrington 4:11:03 9 Dean Fulton 4:12:11 10 Josh Ryan 4:15:55
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