KIWI TROPHY TEAM Despite their unheralded status , the Kiwis too claimed some of the limelight as they bravely charged onward despite losing one of their number on day three , just halfway into the punishing week-long contest against a 500-plus field of international elite at Le Puy-En-Velay . New Zealand ’ s four-rider Trophy Team – Oratia ’ s Callan May , Cambridge ’ s Dylan Yearbury , Helensville ’ s Tom Buxton and Whanganui ’ s Seth Reardon – had held a strong grip on 11th overall position on day three , out of the 22 nations represented in this premier classification . But then Reardon had seriously injured his hand during a tyre-changing work session at the end of day one , cutting it on a wheel sprocket . He bravely elected to battle on . However , his hand became infected on day three and he was not able to continue . “ I had made the decision to pull the pin on the race after I got a gash on my hand while changing tyres during my race on Monday ,” Reardon explained . “ I rode with it for three days and carried on until Wednesday afternoon . Unfortunately it became infected and was very sore and swollen . I ended up going to hospital for surgery , where they opened up the wound to clean it out thoroughly . It is currently on the mend with some stitches to help it heal . I am super gutted that I wasn ’ t be able to continue to race .” A three-hour penalty time was applied to Reardon for each of the remaining three days that he had been expected ( but was unable ) to compete . This cost the Kiwi team dearly and they dropped down the order , although several strong performances from the remaining riders did allow them to finish ahead of the teams from Poland , Austria , Venezuela , Portugal , Australia and Canada . Best-performed of New Zealand ’ s World Trophy Team was Buxton , who finished the event 46th overall among the 156 riders representing 33 separate nations . A further 385 riders were competing also as solo riders representing clubs , with that kind of high traffic volumes making the terrain extremely rough and unforgiving .
CALLAN MAY
TOMMY BUXTON
DYLAN YEARBURY
SETH REARDON
KIWI RIDER 55