New Zealand’s Samuel Gaze and Anton Cooper duel in riveting Commonwealth XCO

Great racing on the Gold Coast, with Commonwealth Games cross country medals on the line

Terry McKall April 12, 2018

Dazn.com Commonwealth XCO Gaze Cooper Hatherly — Anton Cooper (silver) Samuel Gaze (gold) Alan Hatherly (bronze) Image Dazn.ca

New Zealand won gold and silver in the Men’s Commonwealth Games XCO race, but that’s only half the story. The real race was between the two top Kiwis, Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper, and a rivalry between the two that stretches back to their Junior racing days. Thursday’s spectacular showdown between the two young talents added another chapter to the saga, with the two so focused on their own rivalry that they almost let the race slip from their grasp.

There’s a long standing saying in cycling that often you have to be willing to lose a race in order to win. Both Gaze and Cooper looked to be racing by this philosophy at the Gold Coast cross-country course, but it was Gaze that came closest to losing out entirely. A slow leak puncture coming into the last lap, and risky quick fix to stay in the race could have ended in disaster for the pre-race favourite, as his unwillingness to do any work that might benefit Cooper, who was just as happy not to return the favour, had allowed South Africa’s Alan Hatherly to stay with pair. New Zealand’s third entry, Ben Oliver, less than a minute behind the lead trio. Had the gamble not worked, Gaze could have slipped completely off the podium.

Not far behind the drama at the front of the race, Canada’s Léandre Bouchard was hard at work, chasing back from an less than ideal start. “I was stuck behind some other riders on the first climb, so I lost contact with the front group,” Bouchard said, describing the hectic start. Hard work chasing was starting to off for the Canadian mid-race. “I kept charging and was able to make contact with the chase group. I tried to attack on the third lap, but there wasn’t enough space to pass and I crashed,” said Bouchard, with dirt visible on his jersey from going down. And the end of the day, Bouchard was able to work his way all the way up to be in position to contest a sprint for fifth, but the effort had taken it’s toll, and the Canadian crossed the line sixth. “I kept pushing to try and get in medal contention, but the gap was too big. It was a great experience to be here with the national team and represent Canada.”

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Proud to bring #mapleleaf in 6th at the #Commonwealthgame. Not ideal start but chase hard to try be in the medal contention. 6e à ces jeux pour moi. Après un départ ordinaire, je n'ai pas ménager mes efforts pour m'approcher du podium. #Canada

A post shared by Léandre Bouchard (@leandrebouchard) on Apr 12, 2018 at 5:11am PDT

As it happened – Men’s Commonwealth Games cross-country race

Pre-race talk raised the possibility of a New Zealand podium sweep, and Gaze, Cooper and Oliver seemed willing to comply, jumping out to an early 1-2-3 lead off the start. Oliver was out front first, but the first signs of a domestic showdown showed at the international event when Gaze and Cooper jumped ahead going into the first singletrack section, bringing South Africa’s Alan Hatherly along with them, and dropping Oliver to fourth.

Behind, Bouchard had been caught out in seventh or eighth position, but far enough back in the small field that he was forced to watch gaps opening ahead of him while he was caught in traffic through the steep, rocky opening climb.

Gaze and Cooper attacked hard through the opening sections of trail, and immediately a gap developed behind the former Junior and U23 world champions. In a sign of what was to come, a gap of 10 seconds quickly disappeared as Gaze dropped his pace, and Hatherly was able to catch back on to form a front group of three, with Oliver continue to dangle behind.

Taking full advantage of the Nerang track’s Roubaix style Velodrome finish area, Gaze rode up the asphalt banking as the trio came to the end of the first lap, forcing Cooper to reluctantly take the lead, while Hatherly sat on, not yet feeling the need to get involved in the New Zealand pairs battle.

Bouchard, meanwhile, had already started his progress back up through the field, catching a chasing group of five riders who were working towards sixth on course.

Up front, Cooper and Gaze were locked into a strategic battle for position. This led to a wildly fluctuating pace that would see Oliver and Hatherly blown off the back, only to catch back up again when one of the lead Kiwi’s, usually Gaze, would slow the race back down again. Cooper, the smaller and less explosive of New Zealander, clearly preferred a steadier pace but, without any long climbs to put the larger Gaze into difficulty, also was not willing to pull his rival towards a sprint finish.

Hatherly takes his chance

Passing through the finish line for the second time saw a repeat of the opening lap, with Gaze forcing Cooper back onto the front of the race. This time it was Hatherly who would take advantage. The South African national champion, who was second at U23 world championships last year, used the Kiwi pairs myopic focus to catch them off-guard and enter the singletrack first, where he set a more comfortable pace up the technical climb.

Having been caught out, it was Cooper that nearly lost out, bobbling up the Judgement course section – a series of steep, rocky pitches – at the slower pace, and letting Hatherly and Gaze open up a gap.

Cooper chased steadily for the next half lap, closing in on the descent to the start/finish area, where the trio sat up again, this time forcing Hatherly onto the front. Having learned their lesson last lap, neither Cooper nor Gaze would repeat the same mistake twice. Both sprinted around the South African as they approached the first narrow climb.

Behind, Bouchard continued to make progress through the field. The Alma, Que. rider was now in a group of three riding for fifth, and working together to try chase down Oliver, who was still floating on his own in fourth.

Gaze and Cooper’s cat and mouse game continued for the next three laps, with neither rider able to distance the other. Hatherly was either struggling with the pace, or riding a very smart race. Instead of fighting to stay with the the surging pace, he was riding steadily up the climbs, and closing the small gaps on the descents and flats when the pace dropped out at the front. While he was clearly not the same strength as either New Zealander, his presence, and Oliver’s 15-20 seconds behind, remained a threat.

A frantic final lap

Gaze moved to the front as the trio entered the final lap, keeping the pace steady, but slow. What looked like preparation for an inevitable sprint turned out to be strategic, as Gaze pulled off into the tech zone shortly after the start area with a flat tire. While his mechanic worked frantically to fix the leak – apparently applying the CO2 directly instead of trying to replace the wheel, hoping it would hold air for the next 3km – Cooper launched a blistering attack, which Hatherly was doing his best to follow.

Back on his bike, Gaze chased with obvious urgency, but the gap had already opened up to over 20 seconds to Hatherly, and nearly 30 to Cooper. Gaze’s gamesmanship on the previous six laps looked like it was about fail spectacularly, foiled by the late mechanical problem. Not only were the front two gone, but if the tire didn’t hold air, Oliver was still only a handful of second behind.

Gaze, though, was on a mission. The big rider was putting massive watts through the pedals, without looking frantic or desperate. In a remarkable display of speed, Gaze somehow closed the gap to Hatherly before the intermediate checkpoint. In an impressive display of sportsmanship, the South African moved aside, knowing he couldn’t hold Gaze pace and not wanting to interfere with the chase when there was no longer a chance of him holding on for silver.

Taking the opening, Gaze continued his charge back towards Cooper, making the improbably catch at the top of the final climb of the race. Not wasting any time, and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to push the slowly deflating tire too hard on the descent to the finish, Gaze went for the pass. Cooper tried to respond, and tried to move right to close the door. The two rubbed elbows, with Gaze coming out in front to take the lead through the remaining flow trail to the finish. Gaze set a quick, but delicate pace all the way onto the banks of the velodrome but, with no place to pass, Cooper was forced to follow. Gaze took one look back, dove down the banking and sprinted for the line. Cooper threw everything into the spring, but couldn’t manage more than to hold Gaze’s wheel to the line, taking third.

Bouchard sprinting against Clacherty for 5th and 6th at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 Image: Dazn

Hatherly crossed the line 20 seconds later, happy to have taken the bronze. Ben Oliver finished on his own in fourth, a minute behind the winners and not quite able to realize a New Zealand podium sweep. Bouchard came into the velodrome on the wheel of England’s Frazer Clacherty but ran out of time, settling for a still impressive sixth in the world class field. “I attacked on the last lap, but it wasn’t enough to get rid of the [Clacherty] and he won the sprint for fifth.”

NZL

Samuel GAZE