Tauranga cyclist Steve Came wins another Tour of Fiji

Steve Came has won back-to-back Tour of Fiji titles. PHOTO/GEORGE NOVAK

Welcome Bay cyclist Steve Came has made it two wins from two starts at the Tour of Fiji.

Earlier this month he took the title after three days battling high heat and humidity, despite only having a five-week training window leading up to the event.

Came, 48, is a multisport and road racing competitor of high regard going back more than two decades, but his building work and family commitments mean he is very much a part-timer these days.

So winning back-to-back Tour of Fiji titles ranks up there on his CV of accomplishments. There are two 100km days and a 30km time trial to finish, starting at Korovou village in the centre of Fiji's dairy industry up to Rakiraki, then to Lautoka.

"The first day there was a reasonable climb and that was wet but the rest of it was very hot and windy.

"The first day was 32C, second day hit 33, but last year it hit 38," he said.

As satisfying as it is to win again, his main goal is to help grow the sport of cycling in Fiji.

Came believes Fijians have the ideal physique to be strong cyclists and he is wants to help get more of them in the saddle.

"Tour of Fiji for me is more about going up there and helping the indigenous Fijians, imparting my cycling knowledge and building enthusiasm to grow the sport.

"The make-up of the Fijian people is ideally suited to cycling. They are a big powerful people. My strength is more on the hills whereas they are more suited to sprinting and that sort of thing because of their power."

Next year Came hopes to return to Fiji to win a hat-trick of titles but talk of changing the timing of the event may cause some issues.

But he still plans to go back to Fiji to continue his work with the cycle programme in the islands.

"I have two guys that I am helping out who will be racing up there. I will be writing programmes for them and guiding them through training. I am not 100 per cent sure who they are yet but I am happy to take two guys on remotely and train them."

In the time Came has been involved with competing in Fiji, he has noticed a big change in performance from local Fijian riders.

"They have definitely improved a lot over the last 12 months. They have worked on the information they have been given. There is a way to go. A couple of the juniors are showing good promise and that is obviously where the future lies.

"It is a work in progress to grow the numbers. Fiji is so poor and cycling at even the most basic level is an expensive sport. The equipment is just not available over there. They rely a lot on the donation of bikes and replacement parts, chains and stuff.

"That is partly what the [Tour of Fiji] is raising money for."