While Whangarei cyclist Ben Johnstone did not gain any personal glory at the DBR Australia 2011 Junior and Women's Canberra Tour, he earned plenty of kudos as being a work horse for the New Zealand under-17 Development Team.
The 15-year-old Pompallier College student was youngest member of the under-17 boys team,
and performed well on the four-day tour in cold conditions, with the temperature dropping to -1C with the windchill factor at times.
Auckland's Scott Ambrose claimed the yellow jersey for the under-17s after winning the stage one time trial.
From then on, it was up to the rest of the team to keep Ambrose near the front of the bunch. While Ambrose's teammate Mark Findlay took out stage two, Ambrose finished top of the podium on general classification with his team working hard to keep him in the yellow jersey.
It is Johnstone's first year in the team, and he said being part of the tour, which featured a field of 80 riders in the under-17 boys division, was a fantastic experience.
Meanwhile, Marsden Wheelers junior coach Ruth Jarman also travelled to Australia, as co-coach of the under-17 Girls Development Team.
"As a coach it was really interesting. Australia have a bigger pool of riders, who are very focused. But the New Zealanders really took it to the Aussies. The under-17 boys did well to defend the jersey and to have two yellow jerseys after the time trial was great," Jarman said.
Along with Ambrose's stage one win, Devon Hiley of Auckland won the time trial for the NZ under-17s Girls - before finishing second overall on GC while NZ under-19 rider Tom Vessey won the stage four criterium.
It was one of the best performances by the New Zealand team at the annual event, and Jarman said the coaches were impressed and picked up a few tips for future tours.
"It was high-quality racing with big fields, which meant a lot of the race was spent fighting for positions. The boys did very well, but the girls just need to be a bit more aggressive while racing," she said.
It was hoped the development teams would race at the Yunca Junior Tour of Southland, during October.
