Le Race is a

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 form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

event held annually in

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury () is a Regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in it ...

since 1999. The race starts in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and finishes in

Akaroa Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Ngāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu Māori language, Māori for "Long Harbour", which woul ...

, and covers a distance of .

History

Le Race was first held in 1999. In the 2001 event, competitor Vanessa Caldwell died on the Summit Road in the

Port Hills The Port Hills () are a range of hills in Canterbury Region of New Zealand, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Banks Peninsula Volcano ...

when she collided head-on with a car. Race organiser Astrid Anderson was charged with criminal nuisance and convicted in 2003, with a NZ$10,000 fine imposed. The conviction had a major impact on events held on New Zealand roads, with many events cancelled or postponed. The

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

overturned the conviction in September 2004, as the judge was found to have misdirected the jury. No new trial was ordered, but her conviction was quashed. Anderson's legal costs were NZ$60,000. In 2001, Le Race was one of two events in New Zealand that had a traffic management plan, but this became compulsory following the 2001 fatality. Many club races consequently disappeared, with an underground cycling movement developing of holding unofficial races. Anderson, the original owner of Le Race, sold the event to Simon Hollander in 2008. Hollander passed the event on to Sheree Stevens, whose first event as race director was in 2015. Le Race traditionally started in Christchurch's Cathedral Square in March of each year. The

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

caused the postponement of Le Race and due to the

Central City Red Zone The Central City Red Zone, also known as the CBD Red Zone, was a public exclusion zone in the Christchurch Central City implemented after the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. After February 2013, it was officially renamed the CBD Rebui ...

, the 2011 event was held on 15 October and started from Elgin Street in

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

. After using Elgin Street as the start for four times, Le Race returned to Cathedral Square for the event held on 21 March 2015. In the 2016 event held on 20 March, a shorter option of just that finished in

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

was also offered. Kate McIlroy won the race in 2019 and vowed that it was her last race. The 2020 race was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, McIlroy happened to be in Christchurch and signed up on the start line, winning the race in record time.

Multiple winners

Men's

Women's

Past winners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Race Cycle races in New Zealand Recurring sporting events established in 1999 1999 establishments in New Zealand Sport in the Canterbury Region Akaroa