Old school Gunman steels stage honours in south

Old school cycling fans would have been applauding Taylor Gunman’s stage win in the Tour of Southland yesterday.

The Aucklander broke away with 10km left in the 150km second stage from Riverton to Te Anau to win a sprint finish on the Te Anau lakefront.

He did it riding a steel-framed bike designed by his British team Genesis, in a field dominated by ultra-modern carbon bikes.

“I can tell you what, [my] Genesis team will be proud. A steel bike win in the modern era is something to be proud of,” Gunman said.

“To be honest, I followed a couple of wheels and had a good head of steam on and just kept rolling.

“I’m happy about the stage win but the boys got a good ride in as well. It has been a really tough couple of seasons, so let’s hope this is the trajectory back up.”

Gunman was joined in the late break by Australian rider Kane Richards, who was second on the stage ahead of Southlander Nick Kergozou.

Earlier in the stage, Reon Nolan led a group away after the Riverton start.

Nolan was dropped before the Blackmount climb and after Manapouri the race had reassembled for the drive to Te Anau.

“It was an incredibly aggressive start,” Gunman said. “Everyone was attacking, all the major teams wanted to be in the break, no one wanted to have to work in the head wind. It took a very long time for the race to settle.”

Roman van Uden chased home for sixth on the stage, good enough to retain the yellow jersey with a 5sec lead over Michael Torckler, with Gunman in third place overall, 7sec back.

The race is now well poised heading into the Queenstown stage, a 138km journey from Mossburn ending with a brutal climb to the ski resort of Coronet Peak.