Hutchings sprints to stage victory

Perth-based Kiwi Logan Hutchings had consigned himself to domestique duties before a spot in the "lucky break" led to victory in stage three of the PowerNet Tour of Southland today.

Hutchings (ColourPlus) out-sprinted a five-strong break on the 165 kilometre stage from Invercargill to Gore with the peloton zooming home close behind.

There was no change to the yellow jersey with all the major contenders finishing in the bunch. Heath Blackgrove (Zookeepers – Cycle Surgery) leads by 14 seconds to Jack Bauer (Share The Road), Marc Ryan (ColourPlus) at 24 seconds and Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Pro Cycling) at 29 seconds.

After the catastrophe of yesterday, where nearly half of the field was caught in a major crash, today's stage was without incident in stunningly still conditions.

Hutchings found himself out of contention after yesterday's chaos, leaving him with the role of supporting his teammates, Olympic medallists Ryan and Jesse Sergent, who are both high up on general classification.

However, he took his chance with 15 kilometres to go as a break of five riders went clear of the peloton including Paul Odlin (Calder Stewart), Wade Mangham (Ascot Park Hotel), Jason Barlow (PlaceMakers) and Jonathon Atkinson (Energy Smart).

They swooped on solo leader James McCoy (Benchmark Homes) before Hutchings came off the third wheel on the final corner to kick home for the stage win.

"It's my first stage win in New Zealand and it is always great to win at home," said Hutchings afterwards.

"It was a lucky day in the saddle really. I was carrying out the job as bottle boy for most of the day but managed to get into a lucky move. We got a few seconds on the pack and that's all that is needed sometimes to go clear.

"We worked pretty well together to stay clear and managed to hold off the peloton."

Hutchings, who has been riding out of Belgium this year, is looking forward to a break after this week following eight months of solid racing.

"All my joints are saying stop, but I've got a week to go. This is a lot of fun though, to ride in a team with your mates.

"The stage win is great for me and the team. But tomorrow it is back to carrying the biddons and supporting the boys who are right up there overall."

Earlier, a break involving McCoy, Ben King (Calder Stewart), Mark Langlands (Calder Stewart) and Cody O'Reilly (Bissell Pro Cycling) went clear after 35 kilometres. They built a lead of 4:40, to put King temporarily in the virtual yellow jersey position. They stayed clear until King and McCoy kicked away on Otana Hill with 26 kilometres to go. McCoy then edged away from King before he was swallowed up by the key break on the approach to Gore.

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