Yates looks to extend lead in gruelling Coromandel race
Inform cyclist Jeremy Yates will look to defend his title in the test of the toughest on the gruelling Roadcraft K2 road race in the Coromandel this weekend.
The Hawkes Bay rider is looking to extend his advantage at the top of the BikeNZ national Points Series table after back-to-back wins in the Taupo-Napier Classic and the Around Taranaki races. Yates comes into the 192km Coromandel race after winning the national club title in Wanganui last weekend.
He takes on a strong field in the race many believes is the toughest in the country, with several riders using it as a final test ahead of next week’s Tour of Southland.
Main opposition is likely to come from American Omer Kem, the Team Bissell rider from Oregon, who was third last year. Kem will meet up with his new team-mate for next year, Olympian Peter Latham who has recently signed for the American team, which is directed by former kiwi Olympian, Glen Mitchell, a former two-time winner of the K2 race.
Latham, who made a remarkable return from a serious back injury last year to make the track team for Beijing, will be looking to impress before he heads away for his first year with the US professional team.
Auckland’s Karl Murray will be a strong contender, currently in second place in the national series, and will be looking to narrow the 80 point deficit to Yates in the standings.
Young Auckland rider Chris Macic makes his season debut in the series after impressing this year with the New Zealand team based at their northern hemisphere centre in Limoux, France, while Yates will also have to contend with his older brother Matt.
There will be an interesting clash in the women’s race in the Orca K1 race over 100km, with Auckland’s Kaytee Boyd, who placed an impressive 21st in the recent world championships in Italy, up against points series leader Serena Sheridan (Star & Garter Tasman).
Boyd, also a world class mountainbiker, has impressed this year and is also looking to move into the BikeNZ High performance track programme.
Sheridan has been in commanding form of late, with a 90 point lead in the national point series and coming to the Coromandel after her win in last weekend’s national club championship.
Morrinsville Roz Reekie-May, former national representative, is back to see if she can repeat her win in this race four years ago, while Taranaki’s Kerri—Anne Torckler is another young rider to impress in Europe this year.
The men’s race over 192 kms begins at Tairua with seven climbs including the unclassified trek over Whangapoua on the east coast and the major climb to Kereta after Coromandel Town. Following a slick downhill stint along the Firth of Thames and through the town, there’s one further climb over the Kopu-Hikuai before the final back in Tairua.
Yates set the race record of 5:14.19 last year, with the K2 starting at 7.45am.
The K1 race starts at 11.45am from Coromandel Torn on the same course to Tairua and the shorter 50km Quarter K race from Thames at 9.30am.