Burnett and his Creation Signs-MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project team opted for a more defensive ride on the 154km stage from Invercargill to Bluff after Marshall Erwood went down in a nasty crash with half a dozen other riders 30km into the race yesterday.
After impressing on the Remarkables climb on Wednesday, Daniel Whitehouse pressed home his advantage, making the decisive split of the day and claiming the victory in a stage every New Zealand cyclist would love to win.
"This was the day that I earmarked from the start — Bluff is Southland and Southland is Bluff," Whitehouse said.
The Christchurch rider, who was second on the Mossburn to Remarkables stage of the SBS Bank-sponsored tour, had the words "hope" and "wire" written on his hands in homage to Lyttelton band The Eastern’s song of the same name.
The song speaks to "heart and mind" and the Kiwi DIY spirit and Whitehouse showed all those characteristics in a fast day of racing, before beating William Heffernan and Burnett across the Motupōhue finish line.
"That was what I was thinking about during the stage. I really wanted this," Whitehouse said.
"I was a little bit disappointed with [the Remarkables].
Burnett rode a personal best by 1sec for the Bluff climb, only a few seconds shy of the Strava record held by former winner James Piccoli, of Canada.
He extended his general classification lead to 1min 41sec, along with the King of the Mountain jersey and more time in the team classification.
"Obviously I would have loved to win the stage and that was part of the goal coming into today, but I can’t be too unhappy after the big crash at the start and things did get out of control for a while," Burnett said.
"The boys did super good riding the front.
"We were always there in the splits and a massive shout out to Marshall Erwood after coming back from a massive crash.
"All credit to Dan. He definitely deserved it today after being so strong on the Remarkables and then being out front all day today."
Australian rider Declan Trezise extended his lead over Erwood in the under-23 classification, while Bailey O’Donnell again made the early break and now holds a 39-point lead in the sprint ace category.
Southland’s Luke Macpherson continued his stubborn defence of the over-35 silver jersey.
After three days of Southland sunshine, weather conditions are set to change for today’s 151km stage from Invercargill to Gore. Steady — sometimes heavy — rain is forecast.
Not that Burnett will be spending too much time worrying about the weather.
"Wet or dry, it doesn’t really matter.
"It looks warm still, the bunch will maybe be a bit slower and sketchy and you have to watch for a few more things, but it’s nothing we aren’t used to."
- By Nathan Burdon
Tour of Southland
Stage 5 results
Daniel Whitehouse (Quality Foods Southland) 3hr 28min 15sec, 1; William Heffernan (Ibuilt), +44sec, 2; Josh Burnett (Creation Signs-MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project) +46sec, 3; Kiaan Watts (Powernet) +50sec, 4; Luke Burns (Coupland-Cycling Tom Racing Team) +1min 03sec, 5.
General classification: Burnett 14hr 06min 01sec, 1; Matthew Wilson (Advanced Personnel Cycling Team) +1min 41sec, 2; Samuel Jenner (Central Benchmakers-Willbike) +02min 52sec, Declan Trezise (Transport Engineering Southland-Deep South) +5min 51sec, 4; Finn Mitchell (Advanced Personnel Cycling Team) +6min 07sec, 5.
