Blackgrove gets title and bride

BARRY HARCOURT

Heath Blackgrove after winning the 2009 Tour of Southland and shortly before racing off for his wedding.

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Waimate cyclist Heath Blackgrove won his first Tour of Southland title on the 10th attempt this afternoon and then rushed through the prize giving ceremony so he could make it to his wedding on time.

Blackgrove crossed the finish line in the six-day nine-stage race at Gala St, in Invercargill, comfortably tucked in with the leading bunch this afternoon after defending the yellow jersey through the final stage.

Less than two hours later he was getting married to former Southlander and Hawaiian Ironman competitor Sharyon Johns at nearby Otatara.

Blackgrove first rode the tour in 1997 as a 16-year-old, coming home 13th.

He has two national road titles to his name but had always coveted the Southland tour.

``This is the one I've always wanted and to finally get it - it's an amazing day,'' The United States-based rider said after the finish.

The day would be even better if he made it to the wedding ceremony on time and his fiance was there as well, Blackgrove joked.

Share the Road team member Jack Bauer finished second overall, with Tom Findlay from Bici Vida third and the leading under-23 rider

Frenchman Romain Fondard (Share the Road) won the final stage into Invercargill.

United States rider Floyd Landis finished 17th overall and 16min down on Blackgrove.

General classification: 1. Heath Blackgrove (Zookeepers - Cycle Surgery) 21h44m52s; 2. Jack Bauer (Share The Road) at 01m03s; 3. Tom Findlay (Bici Vida) at 01m16s; 4. Marc Ryan (Colourplus) at 01m34s; 5. Peter Latham (Bissell Pro Cycling) at 02m45s; 6. Glen Chadwick (Zookeepers - Cycle Surgery) at 03m48s; 7. Jeremy Vennell (Bissell Pro Cycling) at 06m34s; 8. Ben King (AUS) (Calder Stewart) at 06m38s; 9. Michael Vink (The Southland Times) at 11m45s; 10. Romain Fondard (FRA) (Share The Road) at 12m53s

Team classification:1. Zookeepers - Cycle Surgery 65h36m34s; 2. Bici Vida at 17m02s; 3. Ascot Park Hotel at 20m24s; 4. Colourplus at 24m49s; 5. KIA Motors at 26m49s; 6. Share The Road at 31m08s; 7. Bissell Pro Cycling at 31m41s; 8. Jackson Plumbing at 38m54s; 9. Calder Stewart at 40m03s; 10. The Southland Times at 1h00m35s

Sprints: 1. Patrick Bevin (Ascot Park Hotel) 80; 2. Kyle Marwood (AUS) (Praties Cycling) 40; 3. James McCoy (Benchmark Homes) 31; 4. Gordon McCauley (Subway-Avanti) 24; 5. Karl Murray (Share The Road) 24; 6. Samuel Whitmitz (AUS) (Titans Race Team) 23; 7. Jack Bauer (Share The Road) 19; 8. Ben King (AUS) (Calder Stewart) 14; 9. Aaron Strong (Ascot Park Hotel) 12; 10. Mark Langlands (Calder Stewart) 11

King of Mountains: 1. Ben King (AUS) (Calder Stewart) 54; 2. Michael Vink (The Southland Times) 26; 3. Karl Moore (KIA Motors) 14; 4. Jeremy Yates (Team Enterprise) 12; 5. Jack Bauer (Share The Road) 12; 6. Mark Langlands (Calder Stewart) 10; 7. Heath Blackgrove (Zookeepers - Cycle Surgery) 10; 8. Aaron Strong (Ascot Park Hotel) 10; 9. Peter Latham (Bissell Pro Cycling) 8; 10. James Ibrahim (AUS) (Titans Race Team) 8.

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