Just a few hours before the pros raced Stage 4 of the Tour of New Zealand, 17 year-old Toby Evans raced to victory over the same challenging “queen stage” course at the Beehive Classic Gran Fondo on Saturday.

The 100 kilometre gran fondo raced 2 laps of the elite pro circuit, including a total of 1230 metres of climbing.  Evan’s dominated the amateur field, finishing in 2:42:08 with an impressive 10 minute advantage over Campbell Jamieson (2:51:12) and Philipp Vranek (2:52:22).  Georgia Simpson was the first woman, rolling under the finish banner in 3:13:47.

Evans is an up-and-coming junior rider, who finished 11th at the New Zealand National Road Championships in 2021. 

Fellow teenager Andrew Richardson won the 50 kilometre medio fondo (1:19:16) with Alex Foden (1:21:00) next, followed by Millie Donald (1:26:05) who was also the first woman. 

Modeled on the L’Etape de Tour  by Tour de France, the Beehive Classic was the first gran fondo to take place as part of an international professional race in New Zealand. 

Complete Beehive Classic Gran Fondo results HERE.

PHOTOS: Beehive Classic