They were interested in signing her for the back-half of the season and offered her a contract until the end of December. That all changed after she spoke with Italian team BePink earlier this year. She was coming off a great campaign with them, winning the junior time trial at the national road champs, and the junior Tour of Southland. After all, when 2021 rolled around, she wasn't even thinking about going overseas.Ĭhristie was expecting to do another season with her Kiwi team, Velo Project. It's why a few cuts and rattled bones can be excused as the Christchurch teenager starts to understand the complexities of European racing. Her most recent race, the first women's edition of the famous Paris-Roubaix, had 129. Christie's opening race of the year, the Gravel and Tar Classic in Manawatū, saw her line up with around 20 competitors.

It's no wonder her first season overseas has been overwhelming. 'I've had a small concussion, but mostly it's just been a lot of road rash: over both my arms, legs, chin, face, hands, shoulders,' she says with a laugh from her base in Italy. Christie just happens to leave a bit of skin behind too. Of course, most cyclists leave it all out on the road. If it's possible to crash lightly during a bike race in Europe, then Henrietta Christie doesn't know about it.

When teenage cyclist Henrietta Christie began her season on the gravel roads of Manawatū, the last place she thought she'd end up was jostling with her idols on the muddy cobblestones of Northern France. ‘She understood her power’: the death of mafia boss Pupetta Maresca © Provided by Newsroom

Road rash queen