2023 Bolton Equities Black Spoke season

The 2023 season for Bolton Equities Black Spoke started in New Zealand with the New Zealand Cycle Classic in January.[3] This is the first season for the team as a UCI ProTeam having spent the last three years as a UCI Continental team.[4][5]

Bolton Equities Black Spoke
UCI codeBEB[1]
StatusUCI ProTeam
ManagerScott Guyton
Main sponsor(s)Bolton Equities
BicyclesPinarello[2]
GroupsetShimano[2]
Season victories
Stage race overall1
Stage race stages3
National Championships3

2023 roster
As of 14 January 2023[1][6]
Rider Date of birth
 Ethan Batt (NZL) (1998-08-20)20 August 1998 (aged 24)
 Matthew Bostock (GBR) (1997-07-16)16 July 1997 (aged 25)
 Josh Burnett (NZL) (2000-10-26)26 October 2000 (aged 22)
 Ryan Christensen (NZL) (1996-09-12)12 September 1996 (aged 26)
 Logan Currie (NZL) (2001-06-24)24 June 2001 (aged 21)
 Mitchel Fitzsimons (NZL) (2003-01-09)9 January 2003 (aged 20)
 James Fouché (NZL) (1998-03-28)28 March 1998 (aged 24)
 Aaron Gate (NZL) (1990-11-26)26 November 1990 (aged 32)
 Regan Gough (NZL) (1996-10-06)6 October 1996 (aged 26)
 George Jackson (NZL) (2000-02-20)20 February 2000 (aged 22)
Rider Date of birth
 Ollie Jones (NZL) (1996-04-23)23 April 1996 (aged 26)
 Josh Kench (NZL) (2001-05-06)6 May 2001 (aged 21)
 Luke Mudgway (NZL) (1996-06-12)12 June 1996 (aged 26)
 Bailey O'Donnell (NZL) (2000-09-25)25 September 2000 (aged 22)
 James Oram (NZL) (1993-06-17)17 June 1993 (aged 29)
 Jacob Scott (GBR) (1995-06-14)14 June 1995 (aged 27)
 Thomas Sexton (NZL) (1998-11-19)19 November 1998 (aged 24)
 Mark Stewart (GBR) (1995-08-25)25 August 1995 (aged 27)
 Rory Townsend (IRL) (1995-06-30)30 June 1995 (aged 27)
 Paul Wright (NZL) (1998-02-03)3 February 1998 (aged 24)

January

The team started at the New Zealand Cycle Classic with the aim to take victory again after Mark Stewart won last year.[15] With Stewart not there the team had James Oram as their leader. Stage 1 was a flat race with a small punchy hill at the end. With 30 km to go there were four riders up the road when Oram jumped across to make it five. The five made it to the line together holding off the bunch by 17 seconds with Oram taking the sprint.[16] Stage 2 was a flat stage which ended in a mass bunch sprint where Luke Mudgway finished third in the same time as the winner. oram was safely in the bunch and retained the overall lead.[17] The Queen stage was Stage 3 which finished up Admiral Hill. Black Spoke controlled the breaks for most of the day making sure no one had an advantage for the climb. At the bottom of the climb Josh Burnett attacked taking Dutch rider Adne van Engelen (Roojai Online Insurance) with him. The two fought hard over the last few kilometres with Burnett attacking just before the line to take the stage.[18] Burnett moved up to second overall now five seconds behind Oram who kept his yellow jersey going into Stage 4. Stage 4 was a 126 km stage which ended in a mass bunch sprint. Mudgway started sprinting with 300m to go and held off the others to win the stage.[19] With Oram in yellow going into the final stage, Bolton Equities Black Spoke worked hard to not let any break get too large a gap on the 49.6 km stage. The race ended in another mass sprint where Mudgway was edged out by Lucas Carstensen (Roojai Online Insurance).[20] With that second place Mudway won the Points classification and Oram won the overall title.

The second race for the team was the Gravel and Tar Classic. Black Spoke was one of three teams to field six riders out of the 63 who started, of those only 30 finished the race.[21] With 80 km of the 137.4 km route to go there was a bunch of eight riders leading the race. Four riders from the team were in the bunch; Burnett, James Fouché, Mudgway and Paul Wright. On one of the Gravel climbs with 40 km to go Fouché and Ben Oliver (MitoQ–NZ Cycling Project) rode away from the other six. The pair held a decent gap until Fouché punctured and he had to wait for assistance.[22] Oliver made it all the way to the finish line solo with Fouché finishing 3' 16" down in second place. Wright was the third man home finishing 3' 31" down on Oliver.[23][24] Burnett and Mudgway finished fifth and sixth respectively with their other two team members finishing in the top 15.[25][26]

It was then off to the New Zealand National Criterium Championships. The race was controlled by the team stopping nay major breaks from getting too much time. Fouché pulled the leadout over the final climb splitting the bunch, Wright then started the leadout before swinging off with 600m to go letting George Jackson lead Mudgway to the final 300m. Mudgway opened the sprint easily winning the national title ahead of Jackson and Kiaan Watts.[27][28]

The final race in January for the team was the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the team's first UCI World Tour event.[29] The team was one of two UCI ProTeams invited to participate in the event.[30][31] The circuit race had a tough hill in it with Mudgway being distanced on the penultimate lap. When a small group attacked off the front Fouché helped Arkéa–Samsic bring the peloton back together. Ultimately the race ended in a 33-man bunch sprint with Aaron Gate the first from the team to cross the line, coming in 12th in the same time as the winner.[32] Fouché commented on the team's efforts after the race saying; "All the boys rode super well and I think we showed we belong at this level." This was backed up by three riders finishing within eight seconds of the winner and Gate just outside the top 10.[33]

February

With the 2023 edition of the Tour of Antalya cancelled due to the earthquakes that occurred three days previously.[34] The first race of February became the New Zealand National Time Trial Championships. The team had four riders start in the elite men category and one in the Under-23. Aaron Gate won the Elite title beating George Bennett (UAE Team Emirates) by six seconds. Gate dropped his chain on the course and had to stop and fix it losing time to Bennett.[35] In the under-23 time trial Logan Currie defended his title winning with the fastest time of the day even beating the time of Gate in the elite race.[36] The New Zealand National Road Race Championships were held two days later on 12 February 2023. The Team had a strong presence with 12 members starting the race. The team managed to get five riders into the break of the day with two other riders bridging across with George Bennett and Alex Heaney. Over the top of a hill the two groups joined. Straight away Ethan Batt, Ryan Christensen, James Oram and Tom Sexton attacked taking Reuben Thompson (Groupama–FDJ) with them. Over the penultimate climb Sexton and Batt were dropped leaving a group of three out in front. Logan Currie comes from out of nowhere and jumps up to the front bunch then attacking straight past forcing Thompson to chase. Oram then counters with Christensen following and the two get a gap. The pair make it a genuine sprint for the finish with Oram winning by a bike throw. Christensen takes second with Currie out sprinting Thompson for third. This made Oram the Elite Road Race champion and Currie the Under-23 champion.[37][38]

The first race outside of Oceania was the Tour du Rwanda.[39]


Season victories
DateRaceCompetitionRiderCountryLocationRef
11 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, Stage 1UCI Oceania Tour James Oram (NZL) New ZealandMasterton[40]
13 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, Stage 3UCI Oceania Tour Josh Burnett (NZL) New ZealandMasterton[41]
14 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, Stage 4UCI Oceania Tour Luke Mudgway (NZL) New ZealandWellington[42]
15 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, OverallUCI Oceania Tour James Oram (NZL) New Zealand
15 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, Points classificationUCI Oceania Tour Luke Mudgway (NZL) New Zealand
15 JanuaryNew Zealand Cycle Classic, Team classificationUCI Oceania Tour[lower-alpha 1] New Zealand
26 MarchLa Roue TourangelleUCI Europe Tour Rory Townsend (IRL) FranceTours[43]
30 AprilVuelta a Asturias, Mountains classificationUCI EuropeTour Ollie Jones (NZL) Spain[44]
1 MayTour of Greece, PrologueUCI Europe Tour Aaron Gate (NZL) GreeceHeraklion[45]
6 MayTour of Greece, Young rider classificationUCI Europe Tour Logan Currie (NZL) Greece[46]
19 AugustDanmark Rundt, Young rider classificationUCI ProSeries Logan Currie (NZL) Denmark[47]
25 AugustTour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Mountains classificationUCI Europe Tour James Fouché (NZL) France[48]

Notes
  1. The riders on the squad were James Oram, Luke Mudgway, Josh Burnett, Logan Currie, Ethan Batt, Ollie Jones.

National, Continental and World champions 2023
DateDisciplineJerseyRiderCountryLocationRef
23 JanuaryNew Zealand National Criterium Championships Luke Mudgway (NZL) New ZealandPalmerston North[27][49]
10 FebruaryNew Zealand National Time Trial Championships Aaron Gate (NZL) New ZealandTokoroa[36]
10 FebruaryNew Zealand National Under-23 Time Trial Championships Logan Currie (NZL) New ZealandTokoroa[36]
12 FebruaryNew Zealand National Road Race Championships James Oram (NZL) New ZealandTokoroa[50]
12 FebruaryNew Zealand National Under-23 Road race Championships Logan Currie (NZL) New ZealandTokoroa[50]

References
  1. "BOLTON EQUITIES BLACK SPOKE". UCI. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. "Bolton Equities Black Spoke 2023". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. "BLACK SPOKE RETURNS TO DEFEND 2023 UCI 2.2 NEW ZEALAND CYCLE CLASSIC YELLOW JERSEY". NZ Cycle Classic. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  4. "Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling progressing to UCI ProTeam 2023". Cycling New Zealand. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  5. Welch, Betsy (12 December 2022). "UCI announces 2023 team licenses". VeloNews.com. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  6. "Bolton Equities Black Spoke 2023". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  7. "Cycling: Bostock snapped up by Bolton Equities Black Spoke team". Manx Radio. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  8. "Transfert - Scott et Burnett vont rejoindre Bolton Equities Black Spoke". www.cyclismactu.net (in French). 1 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  9. "Black Spoke annonce la signature de George Jackson". velo-club.net (in French). Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  10. "Transfert - Ollie Jones sera chez Bolton Equities Black Spoke en 2023". www.cyclismactu.net (in French). 4 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  11. "Former Sky/Ineos rider Chris Lawless moves back to UK Continental scene". Sticky Bottle. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  12. Jarosz, Jakub (2 December 2022). "Przegląd pomniejszych transferów z drugiej połowy listopada 2022". naszosie.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  13. "Transfert - L'équipe Bolton Equities Black Spoke annonce quatre recrues". www.cyclismactu.net (in French). 1 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  14. Ostanek, Daniel (31 October 2022). "UAE Team Emirates sign Michael Vink after he shines in MyWhoosh virtual races". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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  32. Cotton, Jim (29 January 2023). "Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race: Marius Mayrhofer faster than the favorites". VeloNews.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  33. "2023 Cadel Road Race". FirstCycling.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  34. Davidson, Tom (6 February 2023). "Tour of Antalya cancelled after earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria". cyclingweekly.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  35. "Cycling New Zealand". facebook.com. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
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  39. "THE 15th TOUR OF RWANDA ROUTES AND TEAMS UNVEILED". Tour du Rwanda. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
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  44. "Vuelta a Asturias 2023: Clasificaciones de la tercera y última etapa". esciclismo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  45. "Defending champion Aaron Gate off to a flying start at Tour of Hellas as he wins opening prologue". CyclingUpToDate.com. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
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  47. Moultrie, James (19 August 2023). "Tour of Denmark: Mads Pedersen takes overall victory with stage 5 win". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
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