The Hokitika Hitter - Sharlotte Lucas' Success On Two Wheels

Hokitika local Sharlotte Lucas has gone from strength to strength on the bike. The former New Zealand age group soccer representative only turned to cycling at 18 and has made her mark on the sport since then.

2014 was Lucas’ most successful year on the bike to date with a range of impressive performance in New Zealand and Australia. This includes a creditable seventh place in the competitive National Capital Tour in Canberra, where Lucas attended as a self-funded individual competing with Australia best teams.

This year has only been here for two weeks, but 2015 has surpassed all previous years for Lucas already. Last weekend at the Calder Stewart elite road National Championship Lucas narrowly missed a rare double on the elite Womens podium. Lucas managed fourth place in her debut in the 25km elite Womens Time Trial at Lincoln on Friday and backed this great performance up with an impressive second place in the 120km elite Womens road race in Christchurch on Saturday. Lucas summarises her results “I am really happy with the results in what were both very tough races, stacked with strong competition”.

I thought linda was gone when she got out to over eight minutes, and knew I needed to give second place a nudge. I attacked at the bottom of the last hill climb and managed to stay away for the final 15km” Lucas reflects. Stay away she did, Lucas managed to open a gap of over two and a half minutes on her chasing bunch in the closing stages of the race. The race was won by former benchmark Homes team mate and Commonwealth games gold medallist linda villumsen now riding for US based pro team United Health Care.

This result has already paid dividends with Lucas asked to represent Holden Womens racing at the only UCI Womens Tour in New Zealand. This has opened more doors for what can only be described as the start of a serious step forward in the race to becoming a professional cyclist. This recent success is Lucas’ biggest result on the bike and is made even more impressive by the fact she balances full time employment and does all of her training by herself on the coast.


Photo courtesy of New Zealand Triathlon & Multisport

Lucas is a member of the dominant benchmark Homes Womens team that won the elite Cycling Series in 2014, the series in which Lucas took individual series honours after a strong performance in all six rounds.

“Sharlotte put in a gutsy effort to place 4th in the Time Trial, then backed up the following day for the 120km road race. It is the best form we have seen from Sharlotte and it is great to see the hard work paying off” proudly states Chris lawrence, Manager of benchmark Homes Team.

After three well earnt days off the bike Lucas returned to intense training today ahead of plans to win the biggest race on the coast the NBS Around brunner at the end of the month and then compete alongside her new Holden teammates in the Tour of New Zealand in February. March marks the start of the elite Cycling Series, where Lucas and her benchmark Homes team will both return as defending champions and look to retain their titles. The next five months are a busy period for Lucas as she looks to peak for some important races prior to a brief winter break.

“Coming second in the elite Womens road race is a great result from Sharlotte and really shows how far she has come over the last year or two, building on a top 10 result in one of the big Aussie NrS tours late last year. She is great to coach with a strong work ethic and you know what training you prescribe is going to get done and done to the best of her ability. We have some big goals for the coming year, which I’m sure she’ll be up toö” states Marc Prutton, Sharlotte’s coach. Big goals indeed, “I am happy with fourth in the Time Trial as it is my first time competing in it at this level, but next year I won’t settle for anything less than a podium position” Lucas aims towards higher honours at next years elite road National Championship in Napier.


Originally published in NZ Triathlon & Multisport Issue 101, April 2015