Northland cyclist Nick Lovegrove had one of his biggest wins of his racing career, and his first for the season, when he won the Forrest Grape Ride Race in Blenheim on Saturday.
The Subway Pro Cycling team member, based in Auckland, was part of the winning five-man break that snuck away with 25km to go in the 101km road race.
"Me, and my teammates Sam Horgan, who was third, and Tayla Harrison [fourth] made the move with Christchurch-based riders Robin Reid [second] and Will Bowman in fifth," Lovegrove said.
"We worked really hard to establish a gap then it was just a matter of using our numbers to get the win. I attacked with just over one kilometre to go and Reid came too," he said.
Lovegrove took the lead just before the final turn of the gruelling ride and held on to the finish line.