Solway team thrilled with success

Their willingness to work for each other played a huge part in the outstanding performance of Team Solway Park in the Wellington-Wairarapa Cycle Classic which concluded on Sunday.
Manager Matt Harvey said their effort of finishing second to the powerful Zookeepers in the team's event, having two of their riders, Josh Wilson (fourth) and Scott Lyttle (sixth) in the top 10 in general classification and another Edwin Crossling, runner-up in the under-23 section was a testimony to the emphasis they placed on unity.
"Everybody did their bit, there were no slackers,' he said.
"And that goes for the whole five days, they were consistent all the way through."
Going into Sunday's action the Solway Park line-up of Tasmanians Wilson, Richie Porte and Tim Walker and Masterton duo Lyttle and Crossling, were, in fact, leading the team's section, a situation which Harvey believes would have come as a shock to race director Jorge Sandoval.
"I don't think he (Sandoval) gave us a lot of respect in terms of the team title, he didn't seem to rate us very highly at all," Harvey said.
The Solway Park team members had other ideas though. They were always confident of their ability to make a strong showing, both collectively and individually, with the more physically demanding hilly stages seen as their main chance to make a big impact on the tour.
"Fitness was never going to be an issue for us and all the guys climb well?.the more hills the better for us,' he said.
The problem for Solway Park though was that on Sunday the terrain was mainly flat and more suited to a Zookeepers team which included overall tour winner Hayden Roulston junior world champion pursuiter Sam Bewley and national under-23 time trial and road race champion Matthew Haydock.
So it was no surprise to see them make up the lost ground on Solway Park and win the team's section by 1mins 30secs.
Harvey is adamant that if the last day's action had included a couple of "decent hills" then Solway Park would have held Zookeepers at bay.
"They (Zookeepers) had a bit more brilliance overall than us on the flat and that made all the difference in the end," he said.
"But it was nice to know we had given them a shake up?they wouldn't have slept too well on Saturday night I guess.".
Harvey said the Solway Park team was very likely to contest next year's Wellington-Wairarapa tour but before that could also get together for the Tour of Southland towards the end of this year.
"They not only compete well together but they enjoy each other's company.
"They're all very keen to build on the success they had this time," he said.