Riding past the Kai Iwi settlement, the race proceeded up the main road including the tough Goat Valley climb before turning left onto the Western Line and back through to Brunswick.
The early going was animated by Bike Manawatu's Steve Stannard a rider with impressive credentials whose performances belie his 46 years.
He attacked halfway through Lap 1 and with Greg Marfell for company, they were off the front of the bunch until the end of Lap 2.
They were eventually reeled in though as the next major move of the day came from the youthful Jason Thomason, who put in a powerful attack on Rangititau East on Lap 3.
Thomason gave it full gas on the main road and by the top of the Goat Valley climb had gone clear by 51 seconds.
Again, the bunch wore him down though, with U19 national rep Luke Mudgeway from the Central Hawke's Bay club in particular putting in some powerful work to close down the gap.
A leading group of six came off the Otakina Hill descent at the end of Brunswick Rd for the final time, and shortly afterwards Stannard again attacked and briefly went clear.
However, lacking company his effort was doomed and he was back in the fold before Kai Iwi, then quickly dropped as they turned onto the main road, as did an exhausted Thomason who was by now paying the price for his earlier heroics.
The lead group was down to four including Levin who had ridden sensibly all day Mudgeway, Alex West and Corbin Mason-Smith.
They stayed together on the rise out of Kai Iwi and the pace then ramped up as they flew up the crucial Goat Valley climb for the fifth and final time.
Levin commented later he was feeling relatively comfortable at that point and when he saw Mudgeway and Mason-Smith start to struggle near the top, he decided to apply a bit more pressure.
He got a small gap on his three remaining rivals, which he had extended to about five seconds at the turn onto Western Line.
Recovering slightly on the descent after the turn, the lightly-built Levin then pushed himself to the limit on the final climb out of the valley and had broken the hearts of the chasers by the time he got to the top with under 3km left to travel.
From there, it was a question of keeping his focus to ensure he stayed clear, which he managed to do so with great style, and at the line he had extended his winning margin out to an impressive 29 seconds.
Behind him, Mudgeway rallied well to out-sprint Alex West for second, with Mason-Smith clinging on gamely for a close-up fourth placing.
Almost three minutes elapsed before Stannard appeared, nine seconds ahead of Thomason, with both having left everything on the course.
For the well-spoken Levin, the win was another step forward in his burgeoning cycling career and followed a fourth placing at the previous weekend's Central Hawke's Bay Junior Tour.
The Year 12 Palmerston North Boys High School student is coached by ex-professional Jeremy Vennell and has only been seriously involved with the sport for two years.
His immediate priorities are the Te Awamutu Tour in two weeks time and the club road nationals in Cambridge a week later.
If he continues to progress at the current rate he indicated, he'd definitely be interested in pursuing a professional career on the road in the future.
Results
John Bull Cup: 1. Nate Levin; 2. Luke Mudgeway; 3. Alex West.
