Tour of Southland weathers all seasons

Patrick Bevin sprinted home the field in Invercargill's Gala St on Saturday to end one of the most weather-affected Tours of Southland in recent memory.

After relatively benign weather in 2010, this year's race had everything from wind and rain through to hail and snow, with some fleeting sun thrown into the bargain.

Bevin (Ascot Park Hotel) outsprinted Joe Chapman and Calder Stewart's Marc Ryan for the stage win which had been shortened by 12km because of the weather conditions.

Earlier, the 13km individual time trial at Winton, which was expected to play a pivotal part in the race, had to be cancelled because of snow.

Race officials were disappointed at having to make the call, with the time trial stage a new addition to this year's race.

The afternoon stage was surveyed by road and helicopter for any signs of snow and when it became obvious the roads where clear, the final stage was confirmed.

Concerns about the health of marshalls standing on corners and the safety of riders and officials on the tight laps of Queens Park meant the final part of the stage was cut with the race finishing the first time into Gala St.

Having started the stage with a lead of 1min 05sec on PureBlack's Tim Gudsell, Atkins' PowerNet team were able to fend off the charges of the PureBlack team over the final 72km of the race.

Bevin's stage win saw him leapfrog Gudsell into second place in the overall standings.

At 19, Atkins' victory made him the youngest winner in the 55-year race's history and the first under 23 winner since 2001.

He also claimed under 23 honours, for the second year in a row, with the evergreen Gordon McCauley (Barry Stewart Builders-GMC Coaching) – who is twice Atkins' age – dominating the sprint ace standings.

Chapman (Creation Signs-L&M Group) was a comfortable victor in the King of the Mountain classification while Pure Black won the teams classification.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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