Josh Atkins rides to Tour of Southland title

ROBYN EDIE/The Southland Times

FIRST TITLE: Christchurch's Josh Atkins, 19, is the first under-23 rider since 2001 to win the Tour of Southland.

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Christchurch's Josh Atkins has hung on during a tense final day to win the Tour of Southland.

Atkins finished safely in the front bunch on the last stage from Winton to Invercargill this afternoon to claim the yellow jersey.

The PowerNet rider, 19, is believed to be the youngest ever winner of the seven day race and is the first under 23 rider to win since 2001.

Patrick Bevin won this afternoon's stage into Invercargill which had to be shortened due to the weather.

The distance has been shortened from 87km to 75km due to the weather conditions.

This morning's penultimate stage, the 13km individual time trial, was cancelled due to snow.

Presentations for the tour winners will be held at the ILT Velodrome from 4.30pm.

"You've got to stay optimistic and believe in yourself," Atkins said ahead of arguably the biggest day of his career.

"You've got to visualise being on that top podium with the yellow jersey on the last day.

"It's definitely a lot of mental [pressure] but it's just as mental for those other guys. They have to bring back a minute on me.

"It's going to be tough."

Gudsell's stage win came after he broke away at Riversdale and drove his way solo back to Gore with a raging tailwind behind him. Intent on cutting into the lead of Atkins as much as possible, Gudsell's PureBlack team-mates rode the rubber off their tyres as they tried to stretch the defence of the PowerNet team and isolate Atkins.

"Hats off to PowerNet, Josh Atkins and his team – they rode an amazing race today," Gudsell said.

"It was probably the toughest day of the race. Conditions-wise it was blowing a gale all day long, there were so many guys still in contention for the lead so they kept having a crack," Gudsell said.

"They fought to the bitter end and I was just lucky to have the support of my team-mates around me till that last 30km section where the race was going to get really exposed."

The peloton rode under threatening clouds and were driven on by gale winds.

The difficult conditions contributed to several riders losing their way on the course or being misdirected by tour officials.

One group were sent on a wrong turn at Wyndham and rode 10km off course. Their fate was being decided last night.

Hayden Roulston, who was leading the tour before having to withdraw on Thursday with a kidney infection, watched the race from a helicopter and a Calder Stewart team vehicle yesterday.

Still feeling the effects of his illness, Roulston predicted he would bounce back quickly and be in good form for the Oceania track championships in Invercargill later this month where he will stake a claim to be New Zealand's omnium rider at next year's Olympic Games.

The man he will have to impress, national track coach Tim Carswell, has shown no lack of determination in his comeback to the Southland tour. Carswell, 40, last rode this race 10 years ago and is hoping to finish the tour and collect a $500 bet.

That's despite a difficult day in the 180km stage from Te Anau to the Crown Range, which Carswell described as the hardest day he'd had on a bike.

Atkins has won a national under-19 time trial title and been fourth at under-23 level, only a few seconds off the podium.

- © Fairfax NZ News