Having just completed a 10-day semi-professional stage race in New Caledonia, Whangarei osteopath Ben Evans found the 129km Hell of the North road cycle race at Tutukaka easy pickings. A top-20 finish in New Caledonia had whacked him into shape, and he proved untouchable yesterday. Evans won the new event with ablistering sub-four-hour finish, an achievement he lapped up at the finish line as it came just two years after he took up cycling. He was in the field the last time the Hell of the North event was staged - two years ago when it started and finished at Onerahi - but back then he was still trying to famliarise himself with the bike. "I'm not quite sure where I finished, to be honest. It was my first cycle event. "It is good to win this race. This is really my first significant win and to do it at home in front of all my friends and family is good way to do it," Evans said. Evans and two others, Latham Croft and professional Swiss mountain biker Benny Buechi, set the pace early, the trio clear of the rest of the field just 15km into the long course race at the top of the Sandy Bay Hill climb. They stayed clear all the way over Mt Tiger and to the halfway point at the Pataua footbridge. It was there that Evans started to put the pressure on. "I spoke with Latham and we decided we would work together to the finish. "We dropped Benny on the first climb out of Pataua North and then I rode away from Latham on the second climb. I had to decide if I would wait for Latham or not, but he never caught up again so I just went for it," he said. Evans was never seriously threatened from the moment he rode clear. The short course event, a 70km loop from Tutukaka through Hikurangi and back to Tutukaka without the detour over Mt Tiger and through Pataua, was won by Elliot Frizelle, a member of the Northland junior cycling squad, with Daryn Johnston, another Whangarei rider second. Frizelle had to fight for the victory though. He attacked going over the Vinegar Hill climb to no avail and had to wait until the last 10km to get the winning edge. The race, sponsored by Dean Realty and Schnappa Rock restaurant, attracted 150 entrants, many from Auckland and further south.
