Gutsy effort in wind from Whangarei pair

Whangarei's Alice Riddell and Ben Johnstone put in strong performances at the PowerCo Cycle Tour of Taranaki despite testing weather conditions.
Riddell finished eighth on general classification, 1 minute 38 seconds down on the winner Robyn Hacker-Cary from Hamilton, among the 15-strong field of the best under-17 female road racers in the country, while Johnstone charged home in sixth in a field of 25.
The 15-year-old was 01:21 behind the winner, his teammate, Luke Wieblitz, from Christchurch.
Unfortunately for the young riders, the weather won on day one of last weekend's tour. The first stage of the road race was ridden in extremely gusty winds near Eltham. It tested the lighter riders who struggled to stay upright as winds continued to pick up, said Riddell's coach, Ruth Jarman.
The organisers cancelled the next stage - a 10km individual time trial.
Sunday and Monday's road stages were on narrow, winding country roads near Stratford and Inglewood.
Riddell and Johnstone rode in teams, which was different from their usual individual road races.
Along with coaching Riddell, Jarman was also co-coach of the New Zealand Under-17 girls development squad.
Each day before racing, squad coaches discussed with their team the terrain, the course, made sure they had adequate riding nutrition and helped riders develop a race plan.
"As a team, we were racing the Canberra Under-17 female squad. I am pleased to say my team managed to break away in the third road stage. The riders couldn't hold the gap to the finish but did make the Canberra squad work harder for their win."
Riddell will now return to training while Johnstone has another major race to concentrate on - next month's DBR Australia 2011 Junior and Women's Canberra Tour. Johnstone was chosen to race in the event from July 8-10, as part of the NZ Junior Development Under-17 road cycling squad.
The cost to compete is great however, with each rider having to front up $3000.
To help Johnstone with his expenses, Marsden Wheelers president Paul Fancy is organising a fun cycling team event - the Three Peaks Challenge on June 19.
Entry is by donation which goes towards Johnstone's travel costs.
The idea is teams have to conquer Parakiore, Parahaki and Pukenui Forrest peaks in the quickest time possible, leaving from Kensington Stadium. Go to your local Whangarei bike shop before June 18 to register.