Jack McLaughlin. Picture by Paul Rickard.
GISBORNE Boys’ High School student Jack McLaughlin adopted the cycling mantra of “don’t lose time” on his way to winning the under-17 division of the Novice Tour of Manawatu.
The 15-year-old, competing in his third Novice Tour of Manawatu, went into the final 70-kilometre road race stage with a 14-second lead on general classification.
“It was two laps, each of 35 kilometres, with a major hill climb five kilometres from the end of each lap,” said McLaughlin, who finished in 25th place last year.
“There were 44 riders in the u17 division. They included my two main rivals, who are both good hill climbers, so I knew I couldn’t afford to lose time. It was pretty amazing. Half the group were for me and the other half against. “The ones for me let me know what the other group were up to. So when they attacked on the hill, I had to go with them.
“It was tough and at times I felt like I was cramping up but it was a case of digging deep if I wanted to win . . . and I did want to win.”
McLaughlin, a member of the Cycling New Zealand junior development (u17) squad and coached by professional coach and former professional ironman Stephen Sheldrake of Gisborne, laid the platform for his victory with a sensational ride in the Stage 2 criterium. He had finished second in the prologue, and punctured and then collected a time penalty in the Stage 1, 54km road race.
“I punctured my rear tyre near the end of the third and final lap when I was in the main group,” McLaughlin said. “I had to wait about a minute for the service vehicle and then 30 seconds for them to give me a spare rear wheel.
“But the gears were different from mine and every time I tried to change gears they were jumping. I had to ride really hard to get back into the group.”
McLaughlin crossed the line with the main group, only to be told he would receive a 10-second penalty for drafting.
“The guys in the service vehicle told me I could draft them until I caught the group but race officials said I couldn’t. That dropped me down to 12th on general classification heading into Stage 2, the criterium, where you race for 30 minutes around a two-kilometre course with sprint points every five laps.”
Having fixed the rear-wheel puncture between stages, McLaughlin blew the race wide open.
“Fourteen minutes into the race I decided to make a solo break and when the spectators saw that they really got behind me and started screaming their support.
“The more they got behind me, the more the adrenalin kicked in and the faster I went. At the end of the 30 minutes I’d opened a 32-second lead over second place, which accumulated to a 14s gap in general classification.
“The crowd was amazing.”
Now in first place and wearing the yellow jersey for the first time on the tour, McLaughlin was not about to surrender his lead on the 70km final Stage 3.
“?‘Don’t lose time’ was all I could think about. I’m not a natural hill climber but I hung in and got the win. I have done a lot of hill work over the past eight months with Stephen and it paid off.”
McLaughlin got to have his name inscribed on a cup that already carries the names of some of New Zealand’s best riders — Shane Archbold, James Oram, Sam Bewley, Regan Gough and Campbell Stewart.
But the teenager is not resting on his laurels.
“I’d love to be selected to ride the Holy Grail — the Canberra Junior Tour, an international race for both u17s and u19s — then keep on making New Zealand teams . . . u19, u23, elite. I hope to one day become a professional cyclist.”
Gisborne Girls’ High School student Kendra Tate, 16, finished sixth in the girls’ u17 division on the tour.
“I was really happy with that placing,” Tate said. “It was the first time I had ridden on this tour and my goal was to finish in the top end (she was ninth in the 18-strong field). It was really tough and I was pretty tired at the end of it. What made it harder was we were riding alongside u19 girls and they have bigger gears than the u17 riders, but some of us managed to stay with them.”
Tate, who is coached by her father, former New Zealand kayak representative Adam, was named in the girls’ national junior development squad after the event.
“We go away to three training camps next year, which will be great.”