Bolton Equities Black Spoke was a New Zealand UCI ProTeam status

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

focusing on

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

. The team was run by ex-professional

Scott Guyton Scott Guyton (born 11 June 1976) is a New Zealand former professional cyclist, who currently works as the directeur sportif and general manager of UCI Continental team . Guyton competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, in the Cycling at t ...

and folded at the end of the 2023 season.

History

Formation

The team was established in 2020 with the involvement of Australian commentator and former cyclist David McKenzie and high-performance coach Marc Prutton. Backing was provided by businessman Murray Bolton along with other sponsors, institutional supporters and suppliers such as the Armstrong Motor Group,

Cycling New Zealand , abbrev = CNZ , logo = Cycling-NZ-Logo-Landscape.jpg , logosize = 200px , sport = Cycling , category = , image = , caption = , jurisdiction = New Zealand , membership = , founded = , aff = UCI , affdate = , region = OCC , regionyear = ...

, Giordana, Lazer, Pinarello and Shimano. Other sponsors and equipment suppliers have included Kiwivelo,

Park Tool Park Tool Company is an American designer, manufacturer and marketer of bicycle tools and equipment for both professional and home bicycle mechanics. It manufactures about 4000 products that range from wheel truing stands to hex wrenches. Hist ...

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, Pro Bikegear, and

Thule Group Thule Group AB () is a Swedish company that owns of a collection of brands related to outdoor and transportation products. These include cargo carriers for automobiles and other outdoor and storage products, with 4,700 points of sale in 136 coun ...

. In 2022 Bolton Equities run by Murray Bolton stepped up to be the naming sponsor of the team.

2022

The 2022 season started with the

New Zealand Cycle Classic The New Zealand Cycle Classic (previously known as the Tour of Wellington) is a road cycling race held in and around the Wairarapa near Wellington, New Zealand. The race is a men's competition over five stages and part of the UCI Oceania Tour ...

where the team took Stage 1 of the race putting Regan Gough into yellow. Stage 2 of the race only Mark Stewart was able to keep up with the front bunch and sprinted to second on the stage moving him into yellow. Stage 3 was a mass sprint with Stewart home safely in yellow and Mitchel Fitzsimons sprinting to seventh. The Queen stage of the Tour was Stage 4 finishing up Te Wharau Hill, Stewart took the stage attacking away from UCI WorldTour Professional

George Bennett George Bennett, Bennette, or Bennet may refer to: Politics and law *George Bennett (Ontario politician) (1888–1948), Canadian politician, mayor of Windsor * George Bennett (Wisconsin politician) (1810–1888), Wisconsin state senator *George C. ...

New Zealand National team and Ollie Jones (). The final stage was a short lap race around the main streets of Wellington Regan Gough attacked with a few kilometers to go and managed to hold off the other riders to win ahead of the sprinters. The team won the overall and Mountain classification with Mark Stewart plus 3 stages. Next on the calendar for the team was the New Zealand National Time Trial and Road Race Championships. The time trial was held first with Regan Gough winning the elite competition and

Logan Currie Logan Currie (born 24 June 2001) is a New Zealand road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Major results Sources: ;2019 : 1st Time trial, National Junior Road Championships : 7th Johan Museeuw Classic ;2020 : 3rd Time trial, Na ...

the Under-23. Being the largest New Zealand UCI cycling team they were the favorites to win the road race. The road race was cut short due to strong winds from Cyclone Dovi and at the time

James Fouché James Fouché (born 28 March 1998) is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . In 2019 Fouche won the combined under-23 and elite New Zealand National Road Race Championships. Major results ;2016 : Ocean ...

was in a break alone and so he was deemed the winner. The Oceania Road Cycling Championships were held in Australia and while riding for New Zealand Currie won the Under-23 Time trial with Fouché winning the elite road race and Gate the elite Time trial. With the home races done the team headed abroad to start their European season. The first European race for the team was Tour du Loir-et-Cher where the team managed a podium in stage 2 with

Aaron Gate Aaron Gate (born 26 November 1990) is a New Zealand road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He represented his country in track cycling at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Gate is the first New Zealand ath ...

and

Luke Mudgway Luke Mudgway (born 12 June 1996) is a New Zealand racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He competed in the points race at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Major results ;2014 : 1st Madison, UCI Junior Track Wor ...

finishing in fourteenth overall. Then off to the Arno Wallaard Memorial where Tom Sexton missed the move of the day and finished in fourteenth 1:30 down on the winner. The final race for April was the

2022 International Tour of Hellas The 2022 International Tour of Hellas was a road cycling stage race held between 27 April and 1 May 2022 in Greece. It was the 18th edition of the Tour of Greece. The race returned after a 10 year absence from the sport. Teams One UCI WorldTe ...

, a five stage race in Greece. In stage 1 Gate managed to get into the breakaway with Fouche there to help pull the breakaway where Gate managed to stay away solo and win the stage by 1:46 to Eduard Prades () who mistakenly celebrated thinking he had won. Gate held the jersey through all the following stages with hard work from the team to take home the turquoise leaders jersey as the Overall winner Stewart finished third overall 1:56 down on Gate. This was the teams first Overall victory outside of Oceania. May started with the

Ronde van Overijssel Ronde van Overijssel ( en, Tour of Overijssel) is an elite men's road bicycle racing event held annually in Overijssel, Netherlands and sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. The event is UCI 1.2 rated, and is part of the UCI Europe Tou ...

where Mudgway finished eleventh in the bunch sprint. Then on to the

Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic The Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic (known as Veenendaal–Veenendaal from 1985 until 2006 and The Dutch Food Valley Classic from 2007 until 2013) is a semi classic professional road cycling race in the Netherlands starting and finishing in the town ...

where the top rider was Mudgway who finished twentieth. The team was unlucky in the Antwerp Port Epic with none of their riders making the front group,

Ryan Christensen Ryan Christensen (born 12 September 1996) is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI ProTeam . Major results ;2015 : 10th The REV Classic ;2016 : 1st Points classification New Zealand Cycle Classic ;2018 : 5th Overa ...

was first home nearly nine minutes down on winner Florian Vermeersch (). The team the headed to Circuit de Wallonie a race for sprinters, once again missing out on a top ten finish Gate finished eleventh. Gate kept up with the front bunch at the Grote Prijs Marcel Kint finishing in twenty-fourth. The

Tour de la Mirabelle The Tour de la Mirabelle is a multi-day road cycling race that has been held annually in Lorraine, France since 2002. It has been part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were int ...

was the next stage race for the team. It started with a short 2.6 km prologue where Currie placed best in twelfth six seconds down. The first road stage ended in a mass sprint with everyone keeping up but no one placing. Stage three was a hilly stage with a flat ending, Currie and

James Oram James Oram (born 17 June 1993) is a New Zealand cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Major results ;2010 : 4th Overall Tour de l'Abitibi ;2011 : 1st Overall Tour de l'Abitibi ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Overall BDO Tour of Northland ::1st St ...

were able to keep up to contest the reduced bunch sprint. They didn't place in the top ten however, because they kept up they moved into fourth and sixth overall respectively with Currie moving into the white jersey of the young rider classification. The final stage was hilly with 48 riders making it to the finish together Ethan Batt placed fifth in the sprint with Oram and Currie finishing on the same time securing their places in the GC and the youth jersey. The Ronde de l'Oise came back after two years of cancellation due to COVID-19. The team set their sights on overall victory. Stage one started with Fouché getting into the breakaway of the day then being one of two riders left. He then attacked and gained an advantage over break-away companion Aritz Bagües of 44 seconds to win the opening stage solo. Gate sprinted to third on the stage 1:19 down on Fouché. Stages 2 and 3 ended in bunch sprints with both Fouché and Gate keeping up to retain first and third overall going into the final stage. The final stage was the flattest stage of the race with all riders except Sexton keeping up for the bunch sprint, unluckily for Gate Jason Tesson won the final stage and gave Tesson enough time to move up to third overall pushing Gate down to fourth. Fouché kept his overall lead and took home the white leaders jersey. Remaining in France the team headed to the

Tour d'Eure-et-Loir The Tour d'Eure-et-Loir is a stage race, multi-day road bicycle racing, road cycling race that has been held annually in the Eure-et-Loir department of France since 1949. It has been part of UCI Europe Tour in category 2.2 since 2019. Winners R ...

where

was the designated sprinter, sprinting to ninth, eleventh and third in the three-stage race claiming fifth overall. It was then off to the first UCI ProSeries race for the team the Tour of Belgium.

Stage 1 Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * St ...

of the race started with Gate trying to get into the break of the day but getting caught a few kilometers later.

managed to get into the break though, with 70 km to go he attacked but was caught by the break with 68 km to go. With 2 laps to go the race was back together a high-speed punchy finish combined with a puncture for Christensen meant the Gate was best finisher in 30th place. In December 2022, Union Cycliste Internationale announced that Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling was granted a UCI ProTeam licence for 2023 season.

2023

The team now a UCI ProTeam changed their name to Bolton Equities Black Spoke.

Team roster

Major wins

;2020 : Stage 1

Gravel and Tar The Gravel and Tar Classic is a one-day cycling race, held annually in the Manawatu region of New Zealand, since 2016, finishing in Palmerston North. It is rated 1.2 and has been part of UCI Oceania Tour since 2018. The race is primarily on seal ...

Hayden McCormick Hayden McCormick (born 1 January 1994 in Cambridge, New Zealand) is a New Zealand cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Major results ;2012 : 1st Criterium, National Road Championships : 1st Overall Trophée Centre Morbiha ...

;2021 :

::Stage 2,

::Stage 5,

Campbell Stewart Campbell Stewart (born 12 May 1998) is a New Zealand professional track and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He represented his country at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, gaining two silver medals in the scratch race and poin ...

: National Time Trial Championships,

: Stages 2 & 3

A Travers les Hauts de France A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

;2022 : Overall

, Mark Stewart ::Stage 1 ( TTT) The riders on the squad were Josh Kench, Logan Currie, Regan Gough, Mark Stewart,

and Mitchel Fitzsimons ::Stage 4, Mark Stewart ::Stage 5, Regan Gough : National Time Trial Championships, Regan Gough : National U23 Time Trial Championships,

National Road Race Championships National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

: Overall

International Tour of Hellas The International Tour of Hellas is a road bicycle racing stage race. It consists of five stages and is usually held between April and May. The race was first held in 1968 as the ''Antiquities Trophy'', and was later known as the ''Tour of Hell ...

::Stage 1,

: Ronde de l'Oise,

::Stage 1,

: Overall

Grand Prix Cycliste de Gemenc The Gemenc Grand Prix is a cycling race held annually in Hungary. It was part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UC ...

: Overall

Tour of Romania The Tour of Romania (or "Little Loop") is a cycling competition held in Romania. It is organised as 2.1 race on the UCI Europe Tour. History Inspired by Tour de France, the monthly publication "Car Magazine" held in August 1910 the first edition ...

, Mark Stewart ::Prologue, Tom Sexton : Stage 3 Tour de Luxembourg,

;2023 : Overall

::Stage 1,

::Stage 3, Josh Burnett ::Stage 4,

: National Criterium Championships,

: National Time Trial Championships,

: National U23 Time Trial Championships,

: Prologue

: Overall Tour of Taihu Lake, George Jackson :: Points classification, George Jackson :: Young rider classification, George Jackson ::Stages 3 & 4, George Jackson