CYCLING: A few months ago Australian bike rider Josh Wall was feeling so poorly he struggled to ride to school.
Yesterday he very quickly stamped his favouritism on the Bike Wise Junior International Cycle Tour in Wanganui with a stunning prologue ride up Georgetti Road to the Water Tower.
Eighteen-year-old Wall cracked
the two-kilometre hill climb in 9min 49.70sec, which is not the fastest recorded in the three-year history of the climb, is certainly close to it.
There was a long break back to Rotorua's Sam Bewley, in 3min 59.62sec, and they were the only two to better 4min. And to emphasise the size of the Australian threat, their riders finished in the next two places, with Mark O'Brien third in 4.00.67 and Scott Peoples fourth in 4.00.87.
The rider considered New Zealand's biggest chance of taking the title, Auckland's Matthew Haydock, finished in 4.04.15sec, giving him seventh place going into today's long stage from Wanganui and Hunterville and return.
Wall's dominance was complete, yet he's had a tough year and wasn't always in this kind of form. Australian team manager John Armstrong explains:
"Young Josh has been unlucky this year. He had a terrible illness and could hardly ride to school and back earlier in the year.
"It took him some time to get over it, and by the time of the Junior Worlds selection races he still didn't have the mileage in his legs, so he missed out there ? but now he's really on fire.
"He's taken out both the road race and the individual time-trials at the national championships recently ? so he will go close. He's a very good and very tough bike rider."
But Armstrong does not discount a New Zealand victory, and tips Haydock as the one to beat.
"The great thing about road riding is that it is a lottery and you have to make your own luck. But fortunately each one of these (Australian) guys will really dig deep. And they'll work for each other."
So the gauntlet has been well-and-truly thrown down to the New Zealanders. Today's long stage starts from Durie Hill School at 9am.
