Cycling: Hawkes Bay pair defend series titles

Jeremy Yates won the final event of the series, the demanding 118km Rice Mountain Classic to win the men's series. Photo / Supplied

Hawke's Bay's Jeremy Yates and partner Serena Sheridan are the king and queen of New Zealand cycling after both defended their national point series titles in the Wairarapa today.

Yates won the final event of the series, the demanding 118km Rice Mountain Classic to overtake Auckland's Gordon McCauley and win the men's series.

Sheridan was third today which was just enough to hold out United States national series champion Cath Cheatley for the overall series honours.

The Hawke's Bay couple were delighted with the titles and their form this year.

For Yates, it was somewhat personal, as he was recently overlooked for the new Pure Black racing team roster.

And the team from Pure Black worked him over on the testing climbs of the Millar Rd and Limeworks circuit climbs before Yates showed his class in the final major 10km climb to the hilltop finish on Admirals Hill.

Yates rode away from a breakaway group of five riders to win solo, well clear of local rider Scott Lyttle (Pure Black) and his Taranaki teammate Michael Torkler.

With McCauley bypassing the race, the win was enough for Yates to claim the national series for a second successive year.

"It's great to win today and to win the series again," Yates said.

"It's a pretty tough day and the Pure Black boys made me work for it. I was happy with my form and it's an honour to win the series again. It shows that I can ride consistently well throughout the year."

Ironically, his failure to win a place with Pure Black has sparked a significant professional opportunity in Europe next year.

Yates will be the main rider for a new Turkish team, Manisaspor, based as an adjunct to the city's professional football organisation. They will compete in some UCI 2.2 races in Turkey as well as other races in Europe.

"I went on Facebook after I got turned down by Pure Black. And I got interest from a Slovenian rider and his manager who are also on the team and it all happened from there. We will be based mostly in Slovenia. It's an exciting opportunity."

Sheridan will also head to Europe where she hopes to get some professional opportunities.

She had to finish third or better today to sew up the series again, and managed to hold on well up Admirals Hill to finish behind Emma Crum.

Both riders were in the wake of Cheatley, who was well clear from the gun today and eventually won by more than five minutes.

Leading results of the Rice Mountain Classic, 118km:-

Men: Jeremy Yates (Hawke's Bay Ramblers) 1, Scott Lyttle (Wairarapa, Pure Black) 2, Michael Torkler (Okato, Pure Black) 3, Andy Hagan (Wellington) 4, Dion Smith (Auckland, Pure Black) 5.

Women: Cath Cheatley (Wanganui) 1, Emma Crum (Auckland, Cyclosport) 2, Serena Sheridan (Hawke's Bay Ramblers) 3, Emily Collins (Auckland, Cyclosport) 4, Janine Kuhajek (Tasman, Star & Garter) 5.

Provisional series points:-

Men: Yates 385, Gordon McCauley 325, Matthew Gorter 225.

Women: Sheridan 450, Cheatley 440, Karen Fulton 254.

- NZPA