Winter Classic rundown

Class shone through at the Winter Classic in Wellington yesterday. British superstar turned New Zealand mum, Yvette Baker, nee Hague, returned from years out of any sort of competition to easily beat a womens elite field which had depth but not quite the ability to match her. Gillian Ingham was surprisingly (well sort of) the next in ahead of National Squad members Rita Homes and Tineke Berthelson.

Meanwhile the veterans were at it again in the mens grade with Jason Markham and Bill Edwards, who will both be racing M40 at the World Masters in Australia this year running away with the race at the start and destroying the pairing of 29 year olds Jamie Stewart and Magnus Bengttson. The race was too much for many with dense bush and steep slopes really sorting out those who knew what they were doing from those who were relying a little too much on guess work....