The well-travelled hills between Te Awamutu and Cambridge will provide a stern test for riders, with the courses announced for the 2026 Elite Road Cycling National Championships.
The championships are set for 5-7 February 2026, and hosted for the next two years by the Te Awamutu Sports Cycling Club, which has a rich heritage in the sport, hosting popular club racing along with their annual Te Awamutu Tour.
It will be the third time that Te Awamutu has hosted the Elite Road Championships, having staged the event in 2000 and 2009, won by Glen Thomson and Gordon McAuley respectively in the elite men along with Fiona Ramage and Melissa Holt in the elite women.
“We are excited to combine the Para Cycling Time Trial National Championship races into the Elite Road Nationals for the first time as it’s a great fit and addition to this event,” said Cycling New Zealand Events Manager, Steff Holcroft.
“The Para Cycling Road Race National Championships race will split out as part of the Waikato BOP Championships in Tokoroa on 28-29 March to add a second key event for the Para Cycling community to target.”
Highly-regarded former Olympian, Commonwealth Games medallist and successful race organiser, Stephen Cox is the Race Manager on behalf of the Te Awamutu club.
The courses form a series of laps (9km and 16km) which Cox believes will provide a strong test for riders and will be popular with fans. In these modern times with the increasing traffic on the road, and considerable costs of traffic management, lap courses are a practicable solution, said Cox.
“Certainly back when I was racing, smaller loop courses were used a lot. They create plenty of interest for fans and provide a serious test for riders,” said Cox, who received an Order of Merit in the honours list last year for his services to cycling.
“I know some riders would like long circuits but they require significantly more resources and increased traffic management costs.
“These are roads I know like the back of my hand, and they will present a worthy challenge. And I am sure we will attract fantastic support from fans which is so important.”
The time trial courses will start and finish at Roto-o-Rangi School, set for Thursday 5 February over courses from 18km to 44.2km. Para-cycling hand cycling and trikes will race over an 18kms course.
The road races on Saturday and Sunday utilise loops of Ruahue and Norwegian roads for the under-23 and elite men over 20 laps, while women race 13 laps of the 9.4km Norwegian Road circuit. Both U19 men and women will also use the Puahue loop before finishing on the Norwegian Road circuit.
In time trials, Para-cycling trikes and hand cycles, Para cycling C1-C3 and Under-19 women compete over 18.3km. Para-cycling Tandem, C4-C5 women and C1-C5 men, under-19 men, under-23 and elite women will be timed over a 27.6km test. The under-23 and elite men take on a 44.2km course.
In the road races, the under-19 women race over 79.4kms; under 19 men over 124kms; women under-23 and elite over 122kms and men under-23 and elite over 188kms.