Whanganui's Glenn Haden wins Taranaki's Round the Mountain Cycle Challenge

Glenn Haden

A cruise in the Taranaki countryside proved just the tonic for Whanganui rider Glenn Haden after beating 435 other cyclists to win the BDO Around the Mountain Cycle Challenge on Saturday.

A series of tyre punctures had spoiled Haden's chance of victory at the 130km Gravel & Tar international cycling event in Manawatu the previous weekend, finishing fifth, so Haden said getting to pick up a victory in Taranaki "was a good reset".

Entering the Men's 35-39 grade, Haden completed the 148km course, which takes in 11 different Taranaki townships, in 3h 36m 33s.

The ride travels 27km south from New Plymouth to Okato in hilly terrain, then travels another 35km down the Surf Highway to Opunake.

From there, they travel across the bottom of Mt Taranaki the 26km to Kaponga, before climbing north up towards St Highway 3, just north of Stratford.

Cyclists then kick in for the 25km dash to Inglewood, followed by the final 17km back to New Plymouth.

It was Haden's first time entering the event.

"Got away with Gordon McCauley, the old legend, he's still got some go on the flat," said Haden.

"We made a good gap on the field until he had some bad luck with a front puncture as we hit the main road near Stratford.

"I put the hammer down and 'soloed' it back to New Plymouth from there for a comfortable win."

Conditions were overcast but dry for most of the race, with Haden finishing just after 1pm.

The win helped ease the disappointment of the 4th annual Gravel & Tar, which was going to be Haden's biggest race of the year as one of New Zealand's only UCI-graded events, which attracts a strong international field.

It consists of 90km on tar seal and 40km on gravel, starting at the Feilding Town Square and finishing at Memorial Park in Palmerston North.

"I had made a move half way through on a gravel sector and escaped off the front of a small leading group," said Haden.

"Unfortunately suffered a puncture and had a long wait before receiving a wheel from service vehicle.

"I put my head down and managed to ride back to the front group, where we continued riding hard to what was looking like a 5-up sprint for the win, until I punctured again less then 5km to the finish."

Haden got another wheel and then race off to hang onto fifth place, "which was a great result for me".

"But left me with a few restless nights of thinking "what if I didn't puncture?".