Cycling: Anderson wins the North Island series

Gary Anderson, middle right, turns to receive his prize for second place at the final race of the North Island Cycling Series, alongside Rob Kilvington, left, and Brent Backhouse, centre.

Whanganui's Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Gary Anderson claimed the overall Masters Individual Classification at the Trust House North Island Cycling Series in Masterton on Sunday.

Riding for the Velo Ronny's-Vittoria team, Anderson had competed over all five rounds of the series from September through to the weekend, with the strongest competition for the Masters crown coming from Wellington's Huib Buyck, who rides for the Total Home Theatre Team.

Anderson's points accumulation over the previous rounds had been 22, 25, 16 and 14, meaning he was tied with Buyck (25, 20, 22, 10) heading into the last round.

Team manager Ron Cheatley said Anderson raced superbly in the final 85km race, finishing second behind Brent Backhouse (Meo GP), who won his second round of the series but had only entered two of them.

Buyck placed back in fourth in the field of 72 riders, giving Anderson the title with 99 series points to the Wellingtonian's 95.

Rob Kilvington (PNP Masters) was third overall for the series with 81 points, while Backhouse's second victory moved him up to fourth spot with 50 points.

In the Masters Two team classification, the Velo Ronny-Vittoria squad of eight riders were all able to finish the race in the front group on Sunday.

This moved them up to 32 points and a share of fourth in the series amongst nine masters teams.

After a dominant campaign, the Masters Two title was won by Optiminal Performance with 64 points, followed by Lonestar Palmerston North (36), Total Home Theatre (36), Velo Ronny-Vittoria and Kiwivelo (32).

Cheatley said it was a very satisfying way to conclude the series with Anderson's individual win and and a strong placing in the team section.

"The guys all rode exceptional on Sunday and provided plenty of support for Gary."

It was the second season for the North Island series.

The Velo Ronny-Vittoria team riders were Anderson, Darcy Forrester, Craig Yorston, Adrian Pettit, Richard Stanton, Stephen Snell, Kevin Hart, Rob Gemmell.