Sarah Ulmer - Two-wheeled lightning

Sarah Ulmer: Two-wheeled lightning

Yesterday Wellington blew away its unseasonable Saturday chill, replacing it with a balmy gleam for Sunday, the day of the women's world cup cycling race around Thorndon, Lambton Quay and The Terrace.

The large turnout of Wellingtonians to cheer the cyclists on may have been related to the summery weather, but more likely it was down to the race's strong favourite, the omnipresent fast-food-endorsing lightning-fast legendarily-cute solid-gold Olympian, Sarah Ulmer. In a no doubt unrelated matter, your correspondent noted a high proportion of Wellington's male photographers had developed a sudden interest in cycle racing for the day. Funny, that.

Not content with lapping the slower contestants, who were unused to the capital's blustery gusts, Ulmer powered to the lead early, and held off the world number one, Oenone Wood from Australia, and a multitude of other talented riders from the world cycling circuit. By race end at Parliament grounds, Ulmer had a clear lead of more than four minutes over her nearest rival, and had knocked 21 minutes off last year's winning time. Another successful day at the office for Ulmer.

ENDS

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