Andrew Pinfold is a 24-year-old full-time road racer with the Atlas Cold/Italpasta team, from Woodbridge, Ontario. Currently, he is racing and training in New Zealand and took some time to write us a short update.

Hey Pedal,

A short note from down under to fill everyone in on how things are going. As you may have heard I won the fourth stage of the Trust House Tour of Wellington and took the yellow jersey that day. I have been told that my breakaway was one of the longest (if not THE longest) in Kiwi racing history. I spent a total of 184.5 km of the 185K stage in a break! It was a long day in the saddle, that's for sure! At first I was with a Dutch rider for 65K, and then we were joined the by two Kiwi riders. At that point the Dutch guy bonked and one of the Kiwis sat on hoping to defend the yellow jersey. It was up to myself and Andy Reid to carry on. The last 10K hurt quite a bit, given there was a break of six riders breathing down our necks. I took the sprint pretty easily and the jersey in the process.

Meanwhile Matt Yates (eventual Tour winner and New Zealand's top rider) and I had been having a few words in the previous race. He wasn't too happy about me winning and wearing what he felt was “his” jersey. The next day was a hard 125K hill top stage. In the first 5K it was attack after attack with some serious gutter action in a howling 40km/h wind. Yates was trying desparately to get away and I was intent on following the Tour's strongest rider. He was going from one side of the road to another and then slowed. I overlapped his wheel and went down at about 45km/h.

Fortunately it was only a case of bad road rash and nothing else. Mike Moore, another Canadian, helped me get back on. Once in the peloton, which was being driven at 50km/h by Yate's team, Yates rode up to me and said, “I guess you were kissing my ass one too many times, mother f**ker”. A classier guy you couldn't find in cycling with the exception of perhaps, the notrious Graeme Miller.

The next day, I was pretty tired from both the crash and the effort from the day before. Yates got away and took the jersey (and eventually the Tour) and I managed to stay with the front group, but lost a lot of time on the last climb and dropped to 20th.

Today was a really hard circuit race and a crit. The circuit was 13K long and had a two kilometre climb and a one kilometre steep switchback descent with flat roads in between. I road at the front most of the six times up the climb and the pack was reduced to about 20 guys at the end of 85K. I ended up third, as a guy snuck away on the descent to the finish and I had to do both my lead out and the sprint (I miss my Canadian Atlas Cold/Italpasta team!). In the crit I finished in the bunch and alive on one of the most dangerous circuits I have ever done.

Anyway, the race is over and my girlfriend Keltie and I will relax and tour the South Island for a bit. For all of you back in Ontario I hope it warms up soon. For everyone else, all the best and take it easy.

Ciao, Andrew “Pinner” Pinfold