My name is Elin - A pro cycling lover's reflections

Jack Bauer, who recently joined Quick-Step Floors, and has given the Belgian team its first victory of 2017, as he won the New Zealand time trial title.

He beat former under-23 title winner Jason Christie by 21 seconds.

“That was so hard. That course was tough with the climb, and I had forgotten about how dead the New Zealand roads are with the big chip, and added to that the wind was quite strong,” Bauer said.

“I am so thrilled to win this national title and to be able to take the national jersey back to Europe for my new team. I had no expectations today as it was more of a 40km hit-out for my major goal of the road championship on Sunday.”

Bauer has spent seven years of his career with Jonathan Vaughters at Garmin and Cannondale. The last years have not been very easy. He fractured his femur in the Tour de France in 2015, but came back for the 2016 season. However, in February, he crashed again and broke his wrist. Not everything was bad though, as he won a stage of the Tour of Britain last season.