 By Michael Jaques (Photos www.cycle-photos.com)Superb weather and record breaking results by international riders were the highlight of the 21st Birthday of New Zealand’s longest running mountain bike event yesterday.
Australian professional Peter Hatton smashed the race record and triumphed over 1130 riders from 11 countries to claim his second win in Wellington’s prestigious Giant Bicycles Karapoti Classic.
Established in 1986, the Karapoti Classic is the longest running mountain bike race in the Southern Hemisphere. Based in the rugged Akatarawa Ranges near Upper Hutt, this annual mountain bike gathering has become the cultural hub of the sport in New Zealand.
The 50k course is a must for every keen mountain biker. It revolves around three huge hills, each climbing to almost 600m. Each climb is split by a series of defining elements, such as the “Rock Garden” – a 2km descent complete with boulders the size of soccer balls and drop offs the size of your bike; or the “Devils Staircase” – a 2km long climb up a series of hand cut steps and knee deep bogs; or “Big Ring Boulevard” – a super-fast 8km of non-stop downhill. The prestigious American cycling magazine, Velonews, ranks Karapoti among the top 25 races in the world.
This year’s 21st birthday event was no different, with Australian Peter Hatton beating out riders from USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Switzerland, South Africa and Germany.
It was a young New Zealander, however, who pushed the 22-year-old Australian the hardest. Rotorua teenage sensation Clinton Avery raced neck and neck with him until the final few hundred metres of the gruelling 50k race.
Hatton, who won the 2004 Karapoti Classic when only 20 years old, lined up as second seed behind three time winner and 2005 champion Tim Vincent from Nelson. But it was Avery who lit the race up from the gun.
“Clinton and Aaron Tuckerman just went for it from the start,” said Hatton moments after his record breaking win, just 15 seconds clear of Avery.
“Peter and I managed to bridge up to them,” said Tim Vincent, whose aspirations of winning Karapoti for a fourth time would eventually be ruined by an incredible five punctures.
Hatton and Avery got away on the first big climb of the race, a 5k haul up Deadwood ridge. “Clinton was really hammering on the flats early on,” said Hatton. “But he’s a big guy so I tried to put pressure on him up the hills.”
That’s how the race panned out, with Hatton pulling away on the uphills and Avery picking him back up on the downhill and flat riding. On a 2k long bike carry section up the imfamous Devil’s Staircase to the high point of the course, Hatton managed to gain almost a minute. But Avery came back at him on the 8k long down hill that followed.
The pair came in to the final few kilometres locked together and it was Karapoti’s trademark river crossing that made the difference. With just 300m to ride they flew into the final river crossing with such determination that they both crashed heavily. Hatton was up quickly, but the cold Akatarawa River gripped Avery’s calf muscle with a viscous cramp and he fell again, cutting open his knee and giving Hatton an open line to the finish. | 
