Bauer moves close to lead with stage victory

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US-based Kiwi pro racer Heath Blackgrove (Zookeepers - Cycle Surgery) wears the leader's yellow jersey after a tumultuous second stage from Invercargill to Bluff Hill. Jack Bauer (Share The Road) won the stage ahead of Blackgrove and Michael Vink (The Southland Times).

Stage two was dominated by a major pile-up at the midway point and involving more than 40 riders. The crash brought down a number of key riders, none more so than defending champion Hayden Roulston, who was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.

The despondent Roulston was bidding for a fourth straight win in the country's premier road tour before he moves to the Columbia-HTC team, which will make him ineligible for the Southland event for at least the next two years.

"I have trained really well for this event," said Roulston. "It was my last chance possibly ever to win it again and to crash out when it is none of your own fault is absolutely gutting."

"It happened because you have riders not knowing what to do and how to handle the conditions. I got going again but knew straight away that something was wrong. My knee is really sore and it left me with no alternative."

The riders had to cope with fierce crosswinds in the second stage to Bluff Hill with the crash occurring on a narrow bridge near Wallacetown around 30km from Invercargill.

Organisers stopped the race for 25 minutes to tend to the injured riders and to allow teams the chance to sort out the carnage of machinery, with some teams to ship in replacement bikes overnight.

Once the race restarted, a break left Cantabrians Vink and Alan Williams (Winton's Middle Pub) with a break. The race broke up with 10km remaining as Karl Moore (KIA Motors) and Dylan Newell (Praties Cycling) joining them to open a 50-second advantage.

Bauer, second in last week's national club championship, pushed up from the third pack to join Blackgrove in the attack up the gruelling climb over the final 3km up Bluff Hill.

Bauer managed to edge ahead in the last attack to claim the biggest win in his career, with Blackgrove in second and Vink holding on for third 21 seconds behind.

Blackgrove holds a 14-second buffer over Bauer in general classification after two stages with Olympian Marc Ryan (Timaru, ColourPlus) third at 24 seconds after leading home the team time trial in the morning.

Hawkes Bay's Jeremy Vennell (Team Bissell) is poised in fourth place at 29 seconds ahead of American teammate Ben Jacques-Maynes after the pair rode strongly up Bluff Hill, with American Floyd Landis (cyclingnzshop.com-Biosport) out of the top 25 after the first day.

It will be a busy night for team mechanics repairing damaged bikes and preparing replacement machinery for stage three, 165km from Invercargill to Gore via Riversdale.

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