Australian professional Sam Jenner claimed a fast and frantic stage two on the Tour of Southland yesterday as Regan Gough took over the tour leader’s orange jersey.
Clear skies and relatively benign winds made for some rapid racing on the 166km stage through central and western Southland before Jenner attacked late and held off the chasing pack on the sprint up Lumsden’s main street.
It was the second straight stage win for the Central Benchmakers-Willbike team, after James Gardner’s victory in the street race on Sunday.
Jenner was pleased to take the stage, especially after a "wild" ride over the demanding gravel climb up the Glenure Hill.
"I’d probably prefer it about 10° degrees warmer as well, coming from Australia," Jenner joked.
"There weren’t too many issues out on the road, although the gravel was pretty wild."
Earlier in the day, a seven-strong breakaway group managed to get out past 3min on the road.
It featured Rushvelo-Ridley’s Matthew Wilson, who had ridden himself into sprint ace contention before having to withdraw, that jersey passing on to Nick Kergozou (Transport Engineering Southland-Deep South).
Max Campbell (C Brown Builders-Olphert Contracting) was first over the Glenure Hill, earning himself most combative honours and the king of the mountains jersey.
Gough, a Cycling New Zealand men’s endurance representative, said the speed of the stage and some challenging positioning on the gravel made for a tough day, although the orange jersey was a great reward.
"It certainly wasn’t blowing a gale, but there was just enough wind out there to make a few of the boys nervous," he said.
"The race was almost to the gravel, let alone beyond the gravel, so positioning was vital. It was my first time riding this stage with the gravel so you’d only really heard what people were saying. It was certainly really loose in the initial hit and I fought my way up there."
Gough holds a 5sec lead over Jenner and Glenn Haden (Couplands-Booths Logistics). Ten riders are within 10sec of the lead.
Day two
Leading results
Results from stage two, a 166km ride from Invercargill to Lumsden.—
Samuel Jenner (Central Benchmakers-Willbike) 3hr 49min 14sec, 1; Regan Gough (Quality Food Services Southland) 0.01sec behind, 2; Kazushige Kuboki, (Japanese Team-Daiken Ray White) same time, 3; Josh Rivett (Oxford Edge) st, 4; Alastair Christie-Johnston (PowerNet) st, 5.
General classification: Gough 4hr 45min 6sec, 1; Jenner st, 2; Glenn Haden (Couplands-Booths Logistics) 0.05sec behind, 3; Boris Clark (Quality Food Services Southland) 0.06sec, 4; Alex Heaney (Quality Food Services Southland) st.
— Staff reporter
