'Buninyong is a big target of mine': Santini NJRS winner Levi Hone talks his overall title and 2024 goals

The 2023 Santini Junior 19 National Road Series (NJRS) men’s title has landed on the banks of the Murray River in Echuca under the impetus of 17-year-old climbing talent Levi Hone.

Hone wrapped up the NJRS overall win by 180 points at the recent Tour of Gippsland among the AusCycling National Road Series (NRS) peloton, after claiming second on general classification (GC) in the U19 men.

That result locked in a 100 per cent record of GC podiums for Hone during the 2023 NJRS season on the back of second at the Canberra Junior Tour in June and third at the Balmoral Junior Tour in south-east Queensland a month later.

It adds a big series victory to a very impressive first-year U19 season for the Echuca Moama Cycling Club talent, who won a silver medal in the junior men’s Oceania Road Race Championships behind Will Heath around Brisbane’s Mt Crosby in April.

“It's a nice win to have in the palmarès, I wasn't necessarily targeting it, but I'll take it,” Hone said.

“I think I’m mostly proud of the fact that I was able to finish up there in all of the tours even though none of them really suited me.”

Small in stature but not in power, Hone spends most of his training time in Echuca on road profiles that fall outside of his natural climbing acumen.

“I see myself as more of a climber given how light I am; however, I enjoy most stages and prefer them to be hard to really sort out the bunch,” he said.

Levi Hone racing Stage 4 of the Balmoral Junior Tour. Picture: Aaron Bear Liang

“It’s a bit tough for training in Echuca but I'm quite used to it.

“The majority of my riding is done by myself, and without any climbs, it can be frustrating riding on dead flat, straight roads all day, but it isn't too bad.”

It’s when the roads started going up where Hone shone during the NJRS season, grabbing his solitary stage win of the season in the Canberra Junior Tour Stage 4 16km individual time trial on the western side the lumpy Uriarra-Cotter route.

That result came a day after second in a hilly Stage 2 road race, the first of his five podium stage finishes across the three tours.

Levi Hone racing Stage 2 of the Balmoral Junior Tour. Picture: Aaron Bear Liang

Hone said his immediate focus now turns to mixing it with the big boys for the third time in 2023 at the NRS Spirit of Tasmania Cycling Tour from November 8-12.

That NRS season finale comes two months before a big ramp-up for the 2024 Federation University Road National Championships in Ballarat and Buninyong.

“Buninyong is a big target of mine, and I didn’t ride super well there this year,” he said.

“It would be incredible to take a win, but we’ll have to see how we go.”

Santini Junior 19 National Road Series men's overall standings

1st: Levi Hone (Echuca Moama Cycling Club) - 675 points

2nd: Jack Clark (Norwood Cycling Club) - 495 points

3rd: Reef Roberts (New Zealand) - 450 points

4th: Will Heath (Scody Racing p/b Balmoral) - 450 points

5th: Sam McKee (Team BridgeLane) - 425 points

Feature picture: Jean-Pierre Ronco/Image Writer Photography