Aggressive approach pays off

No one was more surprised about Scott Lyttle's third placing in the elite men's section at the national road cycling championships in Hawke's Bay on Sunday than Lyttle himself.
The Masterton rider had not raced in serious vein since November and while he was intent on making a strong showing in the 182km event run in mid-30 degree temperatures he freely concedes a top three placing far exceeded his own expectations.
"I knew I had done the miles in training but I didn't think I would be sharp enough to be finish anywhere near that competitive" he said. "I was hoping but that was about it."
Lyttle's confidence grew, however, when going into the last 40km he was still in touch with the leaders and, more importantly, feeling good.
And it grew even more when he noticed some of the "big guns" were feeling the effects of the hot weather, a situation which tempted him to adopt an aggressive approach to see if he could cause the leading bunch to break up.
"I thought to myself I've really got nothing to lose so I'll push on and hope for the best," Lyttle said. "It seemed like a risk worth taking and I guess it worked."
Work it certainly did with Lyttle being left in a three-way war with two of the country's top road racers, Olympian Julian Dean (Rotorua) and Heath Blackgrove (Waimate), for the major prize
In the end it was experienced Tour de France campaigner Dean who proved the strongest finisher of the trio, taking first placing in a time of 4hrs 51mins with Blackgrove 7secs back in second place and Lyttle another 3secs in arrears third.
For Lyttle being in the company of riders of the calibre of Deans and Blackgrove going into the last few kilometres was "absolutely amazing" and right up there with the very best moments in a career which has already seen him make a name for himself both here and overseas.
"You probably don't think about it too much at the time but, yes, it was pretty special," he said. "And probably even more so because it was totally unexpected, I guess I'm still coming to terms with it actually."
His third placing at the nationals wasn't the only good news for Lyttle over the weekend though, he was also confirmed as a member of a New Zealand team to contest the Tour of Langkawi in Malaysia from February 9 to 17. With him in that line-up will be Joseph Chapman (Otago), Logan Hutchings (Bay of Plenty), Robin Reid (Marlborough), Ashley Whitehead (South Canterbury) and Jeremy Yates (Hawke's Bay)
With most of the teams contesting this tour the second biggest of its kind in the southern hemisphere being full made up of full professionals Lyttle is well aware of the magnitude of the task facing the Kiwis, but with some daunting hill climbs confronting them over the eight days he is optimistic of his strength in that area being a definite plus.
"The hills tend to suit me more than a lot of others so hopefully I can make an impact there," he said.
In the meantime Lyttle will continue a training programme which often has him covering between 500km and 600km around Wairarapa roads, usually in the country areas like Mauriceville and Wainuioru. "There wouldn't be many Wairarapa roads I haven't ridden on, it's a great way to see the province", he joked.