Ella Willey won the New Zealand Elite/U23 Championship road race

The 21-year-old won the three-way sprint, ahead of elite rivals in the U23 and women's races, with Kim Katso second and Samara Maxwell third.

Ella Wiley (Liv AlUla Jayco) won a three-way sprint in Friday's 122.5km women's road race at the New Zealand national championships, beating her under-23 and elite rivals in the combined category.

Elite time trial winner Kim Katso (EF Education-Cannondale) was second overall, while powerful mountain biker Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford) was third on the Timaru course. Triathlete Bree Roderick finished second as an under-23 runner finishing ninth overall, while Muirion Green (Black Magic p/b Tineli) finished third in the category.

“It's wear and tear and I've been patient and alert all day,” said Willie, who also won the under-23 time trial. “I pulled back until the last lap to tire out the last of us who went into the race, to completely break free.” The last four kilometers.

“It came down to the fact that there were three of us at a pace and I backed myself. I'm really excited to do it! Thanks for learning during a great Australian summer race. And to run against my coach looking for traffic signs.

It's the second year in a row that a runner has qualified for the under-23 title and won the overall race, another indicator of the strength of talent coming out of New Zealand. In 2023, Ally Wollaston won both categories; However, after an intense period of racing in Australia at Women's World Tour events and the track, Wollaston was unable to defend.

The 2024 race was held over five laps over a 24.4 kilometer course, starting in the port city of Timaru in the South Island, with a packed peloton of 22 in the elite and under-23 categories. The terrain was mostly undulating, but there was a short, steep climb about 5km from the finish.

The elite and under-23 women's race split as the second lap climbed, with five runners at the front. The leading group consisted of Gatso (EF Education-Cannondale), Wiley, Charlotte Lucas (LUPA), Maxwell and Mikayla Harvey (UAE Team ADQ). Ella Harris (LifePlus Wahoo) was in pursuit but couldn't close the gap, although she was ahead of the group behind.

By the time the race reached the final lap, Lucas had pulled away and battled through the final lap for the silver fern emblazoned national champion jersey for the top four. Eventually, however, Harvey fell behind, so at the line it came down to a three-way sprint, with Willie holding off the approaching Katso.

The under 19 men's race took place earlier in the day, with Lachlan McNabb second and Carter Guichard (AG2R Decathlon) third from a split field with Reef Roberts. Roberts also won the junior men's time trial on Thursday.

The Under-19 Women's race and the Under-23/Elite Men's race will be held on Saturday. This year, after the unfortunate demise of New Zealand-based Pro Team Bolton Equities BlackSpoke, the men's competitive field is not dominated by a single team, but instead hosts a large number of top-level professional riders based in Europe. With at least one teammate to lean on. This includes Israeli-premier Tech pair George Bennett and Corbin Strong, Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race winner Lawrence Pithy and his Groupama FTJ teammate Reuben Thomson and the Burgos-PH pair of Aaron Gate and George Jackson.

The dynamics of the race could be changed this year by almost 200 kilometers, adding about 20 kilometers to the length that has been more common in recent years.

“The long race is really important,” said Bennett, the 2021 winner. “There are a lot of guys who can run hard for three-and-a-half hours, but when you get to the five-hour races, you see the difference between the pro-nationals and the international guys.”

“It's an easy, flat course, so without the distance it's going to be a sit-down race. The fact that it's so long will attract a lot more guys, they'll be sniffing around.