Dynamo Events' Stephen Cox (right) has been recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours for his services to cycling.
A “shocked” Stephen Cox has been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours for his services to cycling.
“I’m extremely proud to be considered and to be given the award,” the former New Zealand Olympic road cyclist said.
“The very first email that came to me was a bit of a shock. I left it and came back a couple of hours later because I thought maybe ‘you’ve got it wrong’ type of thing. It was certainly not something I’ve ever expected.”
Now based at Mystery Creek near Hamilton, Cox’s first involvement with cycling was 56 years ago in Taranaki. Cox is proud to say he hasn’t missed a year since.
He can’t think of any other word or reason for his long involvement other than “love”.
“I went to the Commonwealth and Olympic Games and that was great but I just loved riding my bike ... I absolutely loved racing.”
Born in 1956, Cox and his family lived on a farm in Moeroa, Taranaki - the middle of nowhere and the end of the road - 46km from Eltham towards Whanganui National Park.
Cox’s father died when he was 9.
“The death of my father is probably the only reason I ended up riding a bike because if we’d stayed on the farm, I would have gone to boarding school and gone back to live and work on the farm,” Cox said.
“After Dad died, we moved into Eltham. I went to Eltham School and then Stratford High School for three years.”
Cox bought his first bike in January 1968, around his 12th birthday.
“Prior to having a racing bike, the Stratford Athletic and Cycling Club used to have races on the grass for kids on old single-speed bikes. I used to go up there and run, then have a race or two around the grass track on my bike,” Cox said.
“I saw the older kids racing fixed-wheel track bikes on the grass and that was how it all started.
“It was the help of people at Eltham and Stratford that really got me set on my cycling career.
“I still class Eltham and Taranaki as home despite being 50-odd years since I left there.”
The Round the Mountain race is a big event on any Taranaki cyclist’s calendar and Cox rode his first at age 16.
In 1978, Cox came first and clocked the fastest time in the handicap, racing alongside the likes of another New Zealand cyclist Jack Swart.
On three other occasions, he gained the fastest time along with the amateur record for both the short (3hr 43min 43sec) and long courses (4hr 11min 37sec).
Levin was the next stop on Cox’s journey. He moved there in 1974 to take a nightshift job so he could train more.
Two years later, he moved north to Waikato and married Caroline.
“I came to the Waikato because it was probably the strongest area for road cycling in the country.”
Cox rode for the Waipā Wheelers in Te Awamutu before forming his own club.
1976 became a memorable year in his life and career. At age 20 he first competed for New Zealand.
Over the next 12 years, Cox rode in many international events, including the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and three Commonwealth Games - Edmonton 1978, Brisbane 1982 and Edinburgh 1986.
“It’s always a highlight to make any New Zealand team. To compete at several Commonwealth Games and an Olympic Games was up there - I was also selected for Moscow 1980 but there was the Moscow boycott,’ Cox said.
He won almost every major road event in New Zealand, won 32 New Zealand Championship medals and competed in 49 major tours finishing in the top three on 27 occasions.
Other highlights included winning the 1988 Tour of New Caledonia and Grafton to Inverell race in Australia.
“Winning the national road title is right up there too because I got second on six occasions as well, so actually to win one was pretty good.”
After Cox’s racing career concluded in 1989, he transitioned to organising cycling events and has never looked back.
“Putting on events has been the passion for the last 35 years. I actually organised a couple of races and did some coaching for a few years even before I’d given up racing,” he said.
“I was friendly with the guys from Rothmans that used to sponsor the Tour of Southland and many other sports. They asked me if I’d be interested in organising a Tour of Waikato. I said ‘hell yeah’ and that led me into organising events.”
Between 1990 and 2009 he organised events and was race director on top of fulltime employment, which included owning the Davies Corner Four Square and being a sales rep for Pepsi, Griffin’s and Lion Breweries.
Cox has organised more than 220 major cycling events at regional, national and international levels since 1986.
“I helped bring the Women’s UCI World Cup road races to Hamilton in 1999, 2001 and 2002. They were the first time World Cup events were held in New Zealand. They raced around Hamilton Lake and we had the best riders in the world here,” he said.
“They were big-budget events 25 years ago and we had fax machines not emails so it was a completely different scenario to now.”
Cox was also the National Women’s Road Cycling coach from 1990 to 1991 and was Cycling New Zealand team manager to Japan in 1994 and the Commonwealth Games in 1998.
His cycling events company Dynamo Events became a fulltime gig in 2009.
He has since organised multi-day tours and race series - the Elite Road Championships from 2020 to 2023 and the Age Group National Championships for Cycling New Zealand from 2014 to 2017.
More than $500,000 has been raised for New Zealand charities through his events.
Cox has held several club and committee roles in the Waikato and was Waikato Centre President in 2014-2015.
Previous awards include the Cycling New Zealand, Contribution to Cycling Award in 2021 and the Sport Waikato, Service to Sport Award in 2005.
Becoming an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit is the cherry on top of nearly six decades, and counting, of service to his beloved sport.
Cox appreciates everyone who has been involved in his journey - there are too many to thank but his wife Caroline is the one who has been by his side for much of the ride.
“She’s always been there and had to look after the kids when I was away in those early years,” Cox said.
“It’s something that’s hard to put into words, but you don’t do these things thinking of the accolades.”
Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.