Cheatley first and fastest

CYCLING: Local rider Dale Cheatley finshed first and fastest of an estimated 2000 entrants in Saturday's around the mountain Taranaki Cycle Classic over 150km. Catherine Sell also put in a fine effort to finish first woman overall. Both riders backed up at Sunday's Feilding track meet, where Cheatley took out the senior 16-lap scratch race.
The Wanganui couple both finished the 150km TelstraClear Taranaki Challenge in less than four hours and scooped $500 each for their wins. "We were pretty happy with that, it was a bit of a bonus really," said Cheatley after the race. He said that towards the end of the race the pair played a bit of cat-and-mouse as they jostled for position. "I was pretty happy with that time though." His time was 3hrs 56min 22sec, while Sell finished the race in 3hrs 57min 4sec. And it was a case of youth prevailing over experience when 15-year-old Jamie Richards took out the Wanganui Cycling club's 48km open handicap on Saturday.
Riding on restricted gearing on account of his age, Richards fronted up as part of a strong break group of seniors, which started four minutes ahead of lone scratch rider Shane Pointon.
Based from the Brunswick hall, the race covered four laps of the testing Western Line circuit in hot, sunny conditions.
The seven-strong limit bunch, including the race winner's mother Alison Richards, managed to hang on to their lead until the Western Line ascent on the third lap, when they were picked up by Sue Nichols, Karen Chambers and Dan Richards, who had combined well together off the nine-minute mark. This trio led until the turn on to Blueskin Road with 8km of the race to travel. Pointon had put in a herculean effort to catch the break riders, and this group in turn had picked up Pat Carson and Glenn Willacy from second break. The combined bunch kept up a steady tempo, with Geoff Springer, Lee Harris, Mark Armstrong and Richards Junr prominent at the head of affairs.
Approaching the finish, Armstrong was the first to sprint, but Richards immediately got on his wheel and came around him with a well-timed burst to take an impressive win. Lee Harris charged home late to pip Armstrong for second, with Shane Pointon crossing in fourth spot from Chris Morrison. Karen Chambers battled home well for fifth ahead of Sue Nichols.
Richards continued on his winning way, with three wins out of three in the under-17 division at the Feilding track racing carnival on Sunday, and is looking like a good prospect for the national track championships at Mosgiel in early March.
The novices raced out and back over 14 km on Saturday, and for the second week running, Suzanne Guilford rode well to out-finish Zeb Walker, who is a model of consistency. Newcomer Raymi Hurtado rode strongly to finish third and clock the day's fastest time in the process.
Results:
Seniors (48km) group handicap from Brunswick Hall: Jamie Richards 1, Lee Harris 2, Mark Armstrong 3. Fastest time, Shane Pointon.
Novices 14km group handicap, out and back: Suzanne Guilford 1, Zeb Walker 2, Raymi Hurtado (fastest time) 3.