Mito-Q-NZ Cycling Project's Ben Oliver wins US pro cycling series
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Ben Oliver (26) of MitoQ – NZ Cycling Project took the overall victory at the 10-day Intelligentsia Cup professional road cycling series in Chicago, USA.
Lining up against the best professional teams in the United States, Ben and his plucky cohort of young Kiwis dominated the series. Oliver won three of the nine rounds and took out the overall honours ahead of Belgian’s Simon Daniels (UNC Lotto Max) and American star Robin Carpenter (Legion of Los Angeles).
Ben took a break from the UCI World Cup mountain bike cross-country series to transition to the road bike and join his teammates in a targeting this pinnacle race.
Caption (from left): Theo Gilbertson, Hayden Strong, Oli Watson Palmer, Ben Oliver, Sam Ritchie, Oliver Grave celebrating Ben’s win at Intelligentsia Cup. Photo: Ethan Glading
MitoQ – NZ Cycling Project Founder James Canny noted: “We have been trying to win Intelligentsia Cup for nine years. This year we went all out and spent eight weeks in the States building up to this race and flew Ben out from Morzine in France to strengthen the squad.
“I always believed the boys could win it, so it was awesome seeing them believe it themselves to take out the entire race. It caps another successful campaign for the team.”
Oliver was thrilled with the performance.
“It’s been a pretty epic 10 days. I think the team collectively stepped up and in a traditional kiwi underdog way, we just got stuck in and punched well above our weight class and showed the USA how Kiwis race bikes!”
Oliver had great team support in Southland’s Hayden Strong, Queenstown’s Oliver Watson-Palmer, Timaru’s Sam Ritchie and Aucklanders Theo Gilbertson and Oliver Grave defending his jersey.
Team captain Theo Gilbertson said: “We are not the biggest team around but we have an amazing set of sponsors who back us to the hilt and give us the opportunity to compete and every now and then beat the best, I couldn’t be more stoked with the boys.
Intelligentsia Cup is seen as the largest professional criterium series in the United States, running for 11 years and this marks the first time a New Zealander has won the overall standings.
The race attracts top American teams with the riders tackling 10 separate stages across the wider Chicago metropolitan area over 10 days. The final stage, held in downtown Chicago, attracted thousands of spectators packing the one-mile course to see Oliver take out the overall win.
Oliver’s season is far from over as he heads to Glasgow to compete in the World Championships mountain bike in the cross-country for New Zealand. After that it is back to the UCI World Cup series before returning home to rejoin with his MitoQ – NZ Cycling Project team to tackle New Zealand’s biggest road race, the Tour of Southland.
