Hayden Roulston stormed away from his closest competitors, Greg Henderson, Jeremy Yates and Michael Vink, to win the New Zealand National road title by half a minute over the trio. Timothy Gudsell was fifth, at 52 seconds the last rider to be within a minute. Robin Reid in sixth place, was already trailing by 3'46.
The win for Roulston didn't come easy. "I had to put in a lot of hard work today, but it all paid off at the end," he said. "Fortunately I'm in really good shape and I was able to stay away right till the end." Despite the trio of Henderson, Yates and Vink chasing hard, they were unable to bring back Roulston.
Roulston crossed the finishing line in front of a huge crowd at Christchurch with a comfortable 29-second advantage, taking his second national road race title, after he already won in 2006.
He will get to wear the distinct jersey in the peloton for most road races this year. "Wearing the National Champion's jersey will be a big boost to my morale all the way through the 2011 season."
Roulston staged a strong comeback in the 186-kilometer race by bridging across to a group of 12 leaders, attacking with talented young rider Michael Vink with two laps to go, then taking off on his own.
"It was never going to be straightforward but I calculated my strength well and made sure I had enough energy for the last part," Roulston said. "This is a very emotional win for me."
Roulston was second last year, beating fast man Julian Dean in a three-up sprint, but losing out to Jack Bauer.
Results
1. ROULSTON Hayden THR 4h43'29"
2. HENDERSON Gregory SKY 29"
3. YATES Jeremy MNS 29"
4. VINK Michael TLS 30"
5. GUDSELL Timothy PBR 52"
6. REID Robin - 03'46"
7. WILLIAMSON James PBR 04'19"
8. MCCOY James PBR 04'20"
9. BENNETT George TLS 04'21"
10. BEWLEY Sam RSH 05'22"