CROSSWINDS AND CARNAGE IN SOUTHLAND

IN TYPICAL FASHION, THE WIND WAS A MAJOR PLAYER IN THIS YEAR’S TOUR OF SOUTHLAND. JIM ROBINSON REPORTS ON A RACE THAT AT ONE STAGE WAS BROUGHT TO A HALT BY A CRASH THAT AFFECTED HALF THE FIELD.

“Southland was the one that has always eluded me. So this is huge for me,” said US-based Heath Blackgrove after winning the 2009 PowerNet Tour of Southland – just before heading off to his wedding.

Blackgrove took the tour leader’s yellow jersey on the first day, after he and Jack Bauer battled it out on Bluff hill. Bauer won the stage, Blackgrove won the overall. That mutual strength proved prescient for the following week, with the two going for it hammer and tongs.

After a couple of days, Bauer snatched yellow on stage five, when Blackgrove missed a strong break; but then Blackgrove got it back in similar circumstances on stage seven – after which an isolated Bauer blew the rest of the field to pieces in chasing. Frankly, either rider would have been a worthy tour winner. If this year is any indication, Bauer probably will be before too long.

Television commentator Doug Bath summed it up well on the final day’s coverage: “[Bauer’s] on the attack again. I can’t remember a time when we’ve seen a more aggressive rider, in the last 20 or 30 years, in this PowerNet Tour of Southland … gosh this man is so strong … a lot of athletes would have thrown in the towel.”

While Bauer was the tour’s obvious strongman, Blackgrove’s efforts were perhaps more effectively timed. As Bath said: “he’s used his head very, very well.”

By the finish of this 53rd edition of the tour, Blackgrove had won his first overall title in his tenth attempt, in 21 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds. Bauer was 1 minute 3 seconds down. Tom Findlay was third at 1 minute 16 seconds, taking out the under 23 section. Marc Ryan was fourth after dropping off the podium on the last day, while Peter Latham was fifth.

It was a typically tough Southland race, with screaming crosswinds much of the time. That contributed to a huge crash on the Bluff stage, with 40-50 riders coming down, and various lesser incidents – unfortunately taking out pre-race favorite Hayden Roulston. “Every day was defining in this tour. The weather makes it a race,” commented Blackgrove, who missed the crash.

The major pile up occurred at the 30 kilometre mark. “Half the field were left picking themselves up from the road. Three of [the Subway – Avanti] team had damaged bicycles. Fortunately the race was stopped allowing emergency repairs to be carried out by the team mechanics on the many damaged bicycles,” reported Subway-Avanti team director Greg Hulme.

With typical colour, Gordon McCauley, who was brought down and thought he had a broken rib, termed it Southland Nascar.

Another memorable factor was the emerging generation. Findlay (Bici Vida) was ever-present – and very noticeable in his shocking-pink leader’s jersey - in taking out the under23 classification. Ben King of Australia was second young rider, Michael Vink third, and Patrick Bevin fourth in 16th place overall. King also won the KOM, with Vink second. Bevin dominated the sprints classification and won stages four and seven. Quoting Bath again: “One of the biggest revelations of this tour is the young riders … the future of New Zealand cycling is very safe. There are a lot of young riders, it’s a great situation,” he said.

Blackgrove’s Zookeepers/Cycle Surgery team (Sam Bewley, Westley Gough, Glen Chadwick and world champion rower Hamish Bond) won the teams’ category. “My team, I can’t say enough, how strong they are, they controlled the race,” said Blackgrove. Then he was off to get married.

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STORY BY + JIM ROBINSON
PHOTOS COURTESY + PETE BRUGGEMAN