RaboDirect Elite National Road Championships, Spreydon, Christchurch, rabodirect, elite, national, road, cycling, championships, christchurch, nz

RaboDirect Elite National Road Championships

http://www.elitenationals.co.nz/
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RaboDirect Elite National Road Championships

The road course for the RaboDirect Elite National Road Championships is uniquely set within the city streets of Christchurch, based at Pioneer Stadium (Lyttelton Street) in the south western suburb of Hoon Hay.

The circuit covers 15.6km and incorporates the climb (albeit in the opposite direction) of the Cashmere Hills as used at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games. The first lap, however, will miss out the climb and cover a shortened lap of 12.7km.

Elite Men / U23 Men will cover a total of 12 laps giving a race distance of 186.6km, whereas the Elite Women will cover a total of 8 laps for a race distance of 123.4km

Race HQ for the road races will be at Pioneer Stadium on Lyttelton Street and the races will assemble here to roll out under neutral conditions onto the course on Rose Street.

Once the commissaries drop the red flag, the race will be under way for a short 450m run down to the first right turn onto Cashmere View Road. The course gently falls away down to the Heathcote River before turning left onto Ashgrove Terrace at 750m

Ashgrove Terrace winds along the north banks of the Heathcote River for 800m providing an ideal viewing point on the river banks where the race will also be seen later in the lap after descending Hackthorne Road.

At the end of Ashgrove Terrace (1.55km) the course turns right onto Barrington Street heading straight into the Cashmere Road Roundabout. On lap 1 ONLY the course will now turn right onto Cashmere Road (missing out the climb) and head out past Princess Margaret Hospital towards Westmorland and the Cashmere Downs.

From lap 2 onwards, however, the course turns left onto Cashmere Road heading towards the Colombo Street / Dyers Pass Road roundabout. At a little over 2.0km we turn right at the roundabout and head straight into the climb of Dyers Pass which kicks in almost immediately to 8%, gradually easing to 5% as we progress the 1.5km climb.

At the top of the climb (3.5km), known locally as “The Cup Cafe”, the course turns right onto Hackthorne Road to commence the fast 1.5km descent back down to the Heathcote River. Gradients range from -4% to -7% with intial technically challenging turns before straightening out for the latter part of the descent.

At the bottom of Hackthorne Road you will have to scrub off a lot of speed for a tight left turn onto Cashmere Road (5.1km). The course once again now follows the Heathcote River on its south bank heading out past Princess Margaret Hospital towards the Cashmere Downs. Take the chance here to check your speed on the roadside mounted speed monitor.

A long straight run along Cashmere Road past the Westmorland sub-division leads to a left turn, remaining on Cashmere Road at 7.4km. From here the course becomes more rural in setting heading out on the Cashmere Downs loop. A short climb is encountered at 9.5km, then a run down to a right turn at 10.4km onto Sutherlands Road.

At the end of Sutherlands Road (11.7km) we turn right onto Sparks Road to head back towards the city. After 1km we have to negotiate the Hendersons Road roundabout, keeping straight ahead on Sparks Road.

As we get close to the Hoon Hay roundabout we will encounter the 1km to go board near a pedestrian crossing, before turning right at the roundabout onto Hoon Hay Road at 15km.

A short 500m run down Hoon Hay Roads heads us towards the final left turn onto Rose Street, which leaves us just 220m for the run in to the Finish Line.

A Pit Area is located after the Lyttelton St/Rose St intersection on the Start/Finish straight. Team managers will provide service and support from this location for the duration of the road races. Feeding will also be provided from here, with the opening and closing windows to be advised by the Chief Commissaire prior to the start of each race.

75 Lyttelton Street, Spreydon, Christchurch
Phone:	027 CYCLING (027 292 5464)
Email:

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