Blackgrove regains yellow jersey

NZPA ©

Waimate's Heath Blackgrove regained the tour leader's yellow jersey on cycling's Tour of Southland but faces a battle to hang on to it in tomorrow's final two stages.

Blackgrove's Zookeepers-Cycle Surgery team pounced as rival teams including that of the previous leader Jack Bauer (Share The Road), Subway-Avanti and US-based Bissell Pro all missed an early break in today's 165km seventh stage from Winton to Te Anau.

A group of 15 riders broke clear early and remained mostly intact for more than 150kms before the brilliant Taupo junior Patrick Bevin (Ascot Park Hotel) outsprinted a group of experienced riders to claim his second stage win of the tour.

Bevin clocked four hours, 15 minutes, 49 seconds, and Blackgrove finished fourth at the same time to reclaim the lead that he relinquished when he missed the break on stage five from Tuatapere.

The battle for the yellow jersey tomorrow will likely be between Blackgrove and Timaru's Olympic track medallist Marc Ryan (ColourPlus). Ryan trails Blackgrove by just 11 seconds.

Bauer is 1min 07sec behind in third and Bissell's best, Peter Latham is 1min 32sec down in fourth.

"We knew it would be an important day, the second longest stage in a row, and our tactics were to outsmart Jack's team," Blackgrove said.

"The break came earlier than we expected but we had two riders in the break and with Marc Ryan also there, who was high up on GC, I could not have hoped for a better bunch.

"We all worked hard to keep clear. It was a surprise that Bauer's team, Bissell and Subway missed that break."

Blackgrove, an Athens Olympian, said while he could have worked harder for the stage win, he was really focused on the yellow jersey.

"That was the most important thing. It was still tight over the last 5km and I concentrated on working hard to maximise the time difference."

Blackgrove said he was disappointed to lose the yellow jersey on day three and expects a huge battle tomorrow.

" This tour has often been won or lost on the last stage so I expect it will go down to the wire. I have faith in my team to provide the cover and get me home."

The leading pack opened an advantage of nearly four minutes with 50km remaining and while the peloton worked exceptionally hard, contenders Bauer and Latham lost more than two minutes to the leaders.

American Floyd Landis showed up for the first time to ride prominently in the front pack, finishing ninth to move to 14th overall on general classification, nearly 12 minutes behind the leader.

Zookeepers-Cycle Surgery extended their advantage in the teams battle and now have a seemingly safe 10min 25sec advantage over Bici Vida, while Australian Ben King (Calder Stewart) has an iron grip on the king of the mountains title.

The final day will start with a 79km stage from Te Anau to Lumsden in the morning followed by a 65km stage from Winton to Invercargill in the afternoon.