The winning open men's team in the Goldrush was later relegated to second place.
Physiomed, made up of Marcus Roy (Invercargill), Ian Huntsman and Kevin Taylor (Christchurch), finished the multisport event almost 2 hours ahead of the next team, but was relegated because of a road safety issue, event organiser Neville Grubb said.
It was an unfortunate incident but safety was paramount, he said.
Event director Ritchie Bailey said in the final leg of the race, a marshal had been "pushed out of the way" when he tried to stop Taylor from going on to a street in Alexandra because a vehicle was coming.
Taylor declined to be interviewed.
Grubb said it was the first time any competitors had been relegated in the 13 years of the event.
