Just the man for cycling challenge

Having organised cycle events for the past three decades, Olympian cyclist Stephen Cox has added the BDO Twin Coast Cycle Challenge to the fold.
The 1984 Olympian and 1978, 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games representative no longer cycles, but said organising the events was a way to keep him in the sport. He said he was excited about his new undertaking.
For nine years, the Cycle Challenge  was a Sport Northland project but in its  10th edition,  it handed over the reins to Cox, on behalf of Waka-Roc Sports Club, to run the four-day tour of Northland, which begins tomorrow.

Sport Northland's chief operating officer Brent Markwick said while the organisation was proud to have instigated the event, when re-evaluating why they were running it, they realised it was not achieving their mission of getting Northlanders more active.
"The Cycle Challenge is 360km over four days which requires competitors to train, to begin with. While we wanted to ensure the event continued, as it is great for Northland, handing it over to an experienced cycle event organiser like Stephen Cox, meant we had more resources to pour into events such as the Whangarei Fun/walk Festival.
"Over 90 per cent of last year's participants said once they had entered it, they were encouraged to get fit," he said.
Only 20 per cent of Cycle Challenge competitors were from Northland, whereas Sport Northland's Run Walk Series attracted mainly entrants from the north.
Cox and the Dynamo Events team were given the initial contract to run this year's event, after which it will go to tender.
 
More than 400 competitors from around the country are entered in the 360km four stage tour, including strong elite men contenders Hamilton's Matt Gorter and Whangarei's Charles Afford and Lee Johnston, along with an in-form North Shore elite women's rider, Kate Chilcott.
Despite receiving plenty of support from Sport Northland during the transition, Cox, who is based in Hamilton, has faced his fair share of difficulties while planning the event.
"It has been a bit different being a long way from home and organising an event," Cox said.
"It has presented a few challenges such as the time factor - the days it has taken coming up north and going around the course, as well as not knowing the area, and not having the same contacts as I do at home. "
It was also hard taking on an event which had been run by other organisers previously, as people expected it to be exactly the same, he said.

 The only changes Cox has made to the  event, is where the race starts - at Otaika School instead of at Otaika Sports
Complex, and rather than heading down State Highway 1 past Oakleigh, the course veers
down Maungakaramea Road, before returning to the original course.