Crowe Rishworth Scores Huge Win at Laykold Cup

Crowe Rishworth Scores Huge Win at Laykold Cup Track Cycling Carnival in Wellington

28 January 2019, for immediate release

Pat Crowe Rishworth won the Laykold Cup 10km track cycling scratch race at the Wellington Velodrome on Sunday 27 January after a well-timed break in the final 10 laps for one of the biggest wins of his career in front of a loud partisan crowd.

The race is the most prestigious on the Wellington track cycling calendar and has a history of almost 100 years, and is part of a day of events for riders aged 11 and up.

With a stacked field of riders from the Lower North Island, the Laykold Cup was always going to be a hard fought race. Louis Hodgkinson began the hostilities attacking on the first lap and despite coming within a few metres, the bunch never quite made contact with the under 19 year old.

At nine laps to go, Crowe Rishworth bridged across and the duo forged ahead. The chasers behind never quite got organised and Crowe Rishworth sprinted to victory ahead of a tiring Hodgkinson. Boston Bright was third.

"I’m stoked with a big win," said 27 year-old Crowe Rishworth. "It’s special because the people who were cheering, are the people who have watched me try and fail before and that didn’t stop them cheering again - I feel like maybe I’ve done their support some justice and that's a big thing for me."

The women's 6.5km Poneke Plate was won by New Zealand representative Libby Arbuckle (Manawatu) who confidently lapped the field for a comfortable victory. Wellington's Bridget Olphert was second and Renita Vanderhelm third.

In the masters' 8km Stayers' Cup, Jason McCarty rode a tactically astute race for a fine win. McCarty and defending champion Johnathan Leonard escaped the peloton to catch early breakaway Huib Buyck with a third of the race remaining. McCarty attacked almost immediately and never looked back. Buyck was second ahead of Leonard.

The Junior 3 Lap Handicapped Wheelrace Grand Prix was a close run affair, Ewan Cousins victorious ahead of Riley Tunnicliffe and Zac Buyck. The biggest cash prize of the day was on the Women's Handicapped Wheelrace which was won by under 15 rider Kyla Gunn who just held off a fast-finishing Libby Arbuckle and Wellington's Renita Vanderhelm.

Open Laykold Cup 10km Scratch Race
1. Pat Crowe Rishworth
2. Louis Hodgkinson
3. Boston Bright

Women's Poneke Plate
1. Libby Arbuckle
2. Bridget Olphert
3. Renita Vanderhelm

Masters' Stayers' Cup
1. Jason McCarty
2. Huib Buyck
3. Johnathan Leonard

ends

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