98-MILE RACE

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32406, 19 September 1970, Page 48

98-MILE RACE

Bush again favourite Both the present senior and junior champions, H. R. Bush and J. P. Mullan, respectively, will be defending their titles in the Canterbury road cycling championships at Rangiora today. The senior race, over 98 miles, has attracted 23 entries, including the top riders from Westport and Timaru. Bush is having his most successful season and has taken time honours in three of the last four major open races. Last week, in the 120mile Shirley Lodge Classic, he was the fastest Canterbury rider, but was beaten by a Dunedin cyclist for time honours.

His toughest competition today should come from the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, B. G. Stockwell, who has had three competitive rides since returning home. Stockwell rode a particularly fine race in the Timaru-to-Christchurch event before he faded about a mile from the finish. As Stockwell is a rider who likes to apply the pace from the outset, the field will probably thin out soon after the StartOther riders who should prove capable of remaining in the leading, bunch are R. E. Bush, A. J. Hood, B. R. Chisholm, and I. McLean. R. E. Bush and Chisholm have both shown the ability to stay with the top riders this season, but have found the final sprint of H. R. Bush to be superior on each occasion —and this may be the case again today. Mullan, on performances this season, should gain his second success in the 50-mile junior event. He has been riding off back marks in all road races this season, and has performed well in most of them—winning the regional Air New Zealand Grand Prix.