Chilcott, Northey take top honours in cycle challenge

Whangarei cyclist Chubby Hale held her own in the 10th annual BDO Twin Coast Cycle Challenge, claiming a podium finish in the women's race.
The top-placed Northland woman finished the four-day 358km tour in third place overall and second in the open division, with her time of 11 hours and 25 seconds.
Hale crossed the finish line on day four, 31m 14s behind overall winner Kate Chilcott from Auckland, and 23 minutes behind second-placed Deanne Bell, of Hamilton.
"I'm pretty pleased, although I would have liked to have done it faster - I found it a bit easy, riding in group three - they were a slower pack than I would have liked," 20-year-old Hale said after the final stage, which left from Russell and ended in Whangarei, yesterday.
"But it's an awesome event, it was really well organised - it's one of my favourites. We had really good, dry conditions for the four days, and I've got a great tan," she quipped.
The Marsden Wheelers cyclist has been in heavy training over summer, training for several events including the Twin Coast Cycle Challenge.
Next up for Hale is the National Club Championships in Napier, where she will contest the road race for her age group, she said.
Meanwhile, Auckland's Mike Northey rode solidly on day three from Opononi to Paihia to take the yellow jersey off Taylor Gunman, who had gained the lead from stage one winner Matt Gorter, during the winding 84km stage two from Dargaville to the Hokianga Harbour.
Northey held on to his lead for another 90km yesterday  to take overall honours for the men's race. He rode the four stages in an impressive 9h 13m 58s, 2m 23s in front of fellow Aucklander Roman Van Uden, and nearly three minutes ahead of Scott Mullaly, also of Auckland. Van Uden and Northey rode together during the final day, but it was Northey who had more in his legs for the sprint finish, as well as stage four and overall honours.
First time organiser of the Twin Coast Cycle Challenge Stephen Cox said the event was trouble free, and feedback he had received was  positive.