Steve Stannard wins North Island cycling epic

Manawatu Standard Article 20/2/2012 (http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/sport/6446387/Stannard-wins-North-Island-cycling-epic)

GOODSPORTS - GEORGE HEAGNEY

Fresh off a gruelling week in the New Zealand Cycle Classic in Manawatu last month, Massey University's Steve Stannard won the Wellington-to-Auckland Cycle Challenge, which finished in Pukekohe on Saturday.

After taking the yellow leader's jersey on the first day, Stannard relinquished it for only one day before he got it back and kept it for the rest of the tour. He finished in the bunch in the final stage, more than a minute ahead of the second-placed rider. To top off his successful week, he won the King of the Mountains category, which had been his original target.

The Manawatu Jets didn't have a flash weekend playing at a pre-season mini-blitz tournament in Porirua on Saturday. In their first hit-out for the year, the Jets had two big losses to defending champions the Wellington Saints 97-56 and the Taranaki Mountain Airs 97-70. While not playing a full strength team at the tournament, the Jets struggled against the top teams for Wellington and Taranaki. Zeke Meehl, in his first game for Manawatu, had a good weekend at point guard and Kaine Hokianga was solid, but the team was let down in the second half in both games.

Manawatu sevens players and coaches will have a chance to show their wares in a series of free workshops and training camps that start next week. It is run by Sport Manawatu and the Manawatu Rugby Union. Teachers and coaches interested in learning the basics of sevens can register for a free workshop at Freyberg High School. There will also be a schools' sevens training camp on March 5 for three weeks for secondary school boys and girls over the age of 16. It will lead into the regional secondary schools' sevens qualifying tournament in April for the Condor sevens. Students can register via their sports co-ordinator while teachers and coaches can get information at sportmanawatu.org.nz/sevensworkshop.

The Broadway Hockey Club may be battling for players this season with some players looking at heading to the Marist club because of a lack of support at Broadway. Dating back to the early 1900s, Broadway has recenlty been run solely by the club captain and he is leaving to join Marist this season because the job was too much. Other players are set to follow him. With so much history, it would be a shame for Broadway to go into recess, so hopefully they still have good numbers at the senior trials during the weekend.

The NZCT women's cycle tour of New Zealand hits Manawatu this week, with the first time trial stage at Massey University on Wednesday night. Race director Jorge Sandoval is hoping for more support this week than the men's tour got last month and has changed the time of the time trial to try to attract more people. With a stellar field, the racing should be even better than the men's tour, with national teams from New Zealand, the United States, Japan, China and Australia.