Georgia Williams won her fifth New Zealand time trial title with a dominant performance on the rugged course in South Waikato.

In the 33.5km elite men's time trial, George Bennett finished with the second fastest time in Tokoroa after 2023, replicating the top two podium finishers from 2021 Bennett, a member of UAE Team Emirates, finished in 44:42.25! He took the title less than seven seconds out of the gate, with third place going to his teammate James Oram of Bolton Equities Black Spoke, New Zealand's first professional team this season. This is special," said Oram. It's great to have this jersey and to go to Europe with the Bolton Equities Black Spoke team. I'm looking forward to flying the flag in the time trial this year.

"I dropped my chain, and I would have blamed myself if that had affected my chances of winning.

In the elite women's time trial, none of Williams' competitors could match her time of 50:42.74, giving the 29-year-old the title for the third year in a row.

"It was a really hard course. I drove as fast as I could," Williams said in a New Zealand media release. 8 km into the race, a water leak caused a loss of pressure in the rear tires.

"I think I'll have to come back next year to try and break the record.

Allie Wollaston (AG Insurance-Soudal-Quickstep) had been questioned whether she would compete after undergoing surgery this week to remove metal from her wrist, but the national criterium champion stopped the clock in 50:08.69 to win the under-23 girls race. Henrietta Christie (Human Powered Health) finished second in the U23 category, 1:28 behind Wollaston, and Ella Willey (Lifeplus Wahoo) rounded out the final spot on the U23 podium.

Logan Currie (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) came into the event as one of the favorites to win the U23 men's title after finishing fourth in the time trial at last year's World Championships in Wollongong. This was 1:48 less than Gate's elite title winning time. Lawrence Petit (Groupama-FDJ) also stopped the clock faster than the elite athletes, just over 53 seconds behind Currie. Alexander White (Aevolo) finished third.

The race against the clock for the elite and U23 riders all took place on a 33.5 km course with 381 m of climbing distance; the U19 riders were shortened at the turnaround to 233 m elevation gain and 22.9 km distance.

Noah Hollamby (ilabb Fruzio Devo) won the junior men's title ahead of Elliot Robertson and James Gardner, and Mui Leanne Green (Black Magic Women's Cycling) won the junior men's title ahead of teammates Kirsty Watts and Zoe Spillane to win the U19 women's title.

The next highlight of the New Zealand championships will be the weekend's road races. The race will be run on a loop that is also included in the time trial course. The women's elite and U23 road races will run four laps of the course on Saturday for a total of 105.9 km and 1,354 m elevation gain, while the U23 and elite men's races will run seven laps on Sunday for 178.2 km and 2,347 m elevation gain.

"Not only has she won the time trial five times, she has also won the road race three times. However, he will be up against strong competitors such as Mikaela Drummond (Zaf Cycling) and the U23 rider trio of Christy, Wollaston, and Willie. Since the road race is a combined event, the elite will win if the U23 riders finish first.

Defending men's elite champion James Fouche (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) expects the men's race to be a war of attrition. He said, "There will be no hiding in this race."

Fouche is on a team with numbers and options, but 2021 national champion Bennett, 2020 winner Shane Archibald (Beulah Hansgrohe), Campbell Stewart (Jayco Alura), and Groupama-FDJ under-23 He will be competing against a strong group of riders on the World Tour, including riders Petey and Ruben Thompson, who will be competing in the World Tour.