Northey powers his way into yellow jersey

Press Release
For immediate release

Northey powers his way into yellow jersey

(Tuesday 30 October) A commanding climb up Bluff Hill has earned Node 4-Subaru’s Mike Northey a stage win and the yellow jersey after Stage Two of the PowerNet Tour of Southland.

The Auckland-based rider was strong throughout the 137km stage and now takes an eight second lead going into tomorrow’s double stage.

The final climb up the infamous Bluff Hill was brutal, Northey said.

“I rode up the other day with the boys who hadn’t done it before, so I knew that if you saved yourself for the steep part it would help you … I knew if I saved something in the tank I could go a bit quicker,” he said.

“It’s not my style of climb, but given the circumstances today it worked out well for me. I’m not a climber, so to do this (win the stage) is pretty special.”

Those circumstances included some strong cross winds that the field had to contend with.

A group of 15 riders representing most of the major teams and including Northey and teammate Matt Cronshaw, made an early break and maintained what became a 4 minute lead as the stage passed through Central Southland then on towards Bluff.

That group was whittled down to 10 as it neared the bottom of Bluff Hill and by the top just seconds split the field, with Northey taking stage honours 3 seconds ahead of Bissell Pro Cycling’s Carter Jones and 25 seconds in front of Pure Black Racing’s Taylor Gunman.

The win puts Northey into yellow, eight seconds up on Jones. Gunman, who will now wear The Co-operative Bank U23 jersey after a strong day, is third in GC. PowerNet’s Cam Karwowski sits in fourth.

“We’ll have a bit of work to do on the front now and we’ll just take every day as it comes,” Northey said.

“We’ll see how long we can stay in the top three – that’s my goal, top three in GC, so we’ll just see what happens.”

Joe Chapman (Creation Signs-L&M Group Racing) keeps hold of the Jesco Hydraulics King of the Mountain jersey, while Share the Road’s Sam Witmitz keeps the Harcourts Sprint Ace jersey. Node 4-Subaru now leads the Wensley’s Cycles team classification, 17 seconds up on Bissell Pro Cycling.

A crash on the way from Makarewa to Winton signalled the end of racing for five riders who were forced to withdraw.

Tomorrow’s racing will include two stages. The first – Stage Three – starts in Riverton and is a 48km route to Tuatapere. It is followed by the fourth Tour stage, a 100km stage from Tuatapere to Te Anau.

ENDS

STAGE RESULTS
71 Michael NORTHEY Node 4 - Subaru 3:18:36 1
25 Carter JONES Bissell Pro Cycling @ 00:03 2
34 Taylor GUNMAN (U23) Pure Black Racing @ 00:25 3
4 Cameron KARWOWSKI (U23) PowerNet @ 00:41 4
43 Fraser GOUGH (U23) Share The Road @ 00:41 5
16 Marc RYAN Calder Stewart @ 00:50 6 161 Gordon MCCAULEY Barry Stewart Builders - Gordon McCauley Coaching @ 00:53 7 56 Sean HAMBROOK (U23)Ascot Park Hotel - Kia Motors - NZ Bike Magazine @ 01:14 8 82 Jason RIGG Team Polygon @ 01:47 9
32 Roman VAN UDEN Pure Black Racing @ 02:18 10

GC RESULTS
71 Michael NORTHEY Node 4 - Subaru 7:16:31 1 00:10
25 Carter JONES Bissell Pro Cycling @ 00:08 2 00:06
34 Taylor GUNMAN (U23) Pure Black Racing @ 00:27 3 00:04
4 Cameron KARWOWSKI (U23)PowerNet @ 00:39 4 00:06
43 Fraser GOUGH (U23) Share The Road @ 00:55 5
16 Marc RYAN Calder Stewart @ 01:12 6
161 Gordon MCCAULEY Barry Stewart Builders - Gordon McCauley Coaching @ 01:17 7 56 Sean HAMBROOK (U23) Ascot Park Hotel - Kia Motors - NZ Bike Magazine @ 01:25 8 82 Jason RIGG Team Polygon @ 02:14 9 00:01
32 Roman VAN UDEN Pure Black Racing @ 02:24 10

WENSLEYS CYCLES TEAM RESULTS
Node 4 – Subaru 21:45:01
Bissell Pro Cycling @ 00:17
Calder Stewart @ 00:18
Pure Black Racing @ 00:18
Ascot Park Hotel - Kia Motors - NZ Bike Magazine @ 02:25
PowerNet @ 03:33
Share The Road @ 03:43
Olphert Contracting - McKenzie Craik @ 05:04
H&Js Outdoor World - Avanti Plus @ 05:51
Subway Pro Cycling @ 06:15
Stewart Imrie Financial Services @ 07:24
Southsure Insurance Team @ 08:12
Barry Stewart Builders - Gordon McCauley Coaching @ 08:24
Creation Signs - L&M Group Racing @ 08:57
Henderson Construction Limited @ 09:04
The Southland Times @ 12:47
Southern Institute of Technology @ 13:53
Team Polygon @ 20:25
Team Hydraulink @ 20:26
Versatile Homes & Buildings @ 23:36
Ultimo @ 26:05

HARCOURTS SPRINT RESULTS
42 Samuel Witmitz Share The Road 80
74 Matt Cronshaw Node 4 – Subaru 16
76 James Moss Node 4 – Subaru 15
132 Craig Evers Southsure Insurance Team 14
4 Cameron Karwowski PowerNet 11
133 Craig Hutton Southsure Insurance Team 11

JESCO HYRDAULICS KING OF THE MOUNTAIN RESULTS
111 Joseph Chapman Creation Signs - L&M Group Racing 24
76 James Moss Node 4 - Subaru 12
46 Greg Taylor Share The Road 10
71 Michael Northey Node 4 - Subaru 8
82 Jason Rigg Team Polygon 6

THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK U23 RESULTS
34 Taylor Gunman Pure Black Racing 3:19.01
4 Cameron Karwowski PowerNet @00:16
43 Fraser Gough Share the Road @00:16
56 Sean Hambrook Ascot Park Hotel-Kia Motors-NZ Bike Mag @00:49
12 Michael Vink Calder Stewart @02:00

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