James wins fifth stage in a row in the Tour of New Zealand

Tim James won his fifth Tour of New Zealand stage in a row on a day that saw very little changes to the leader boards with two days of racing left before the tour’s exciting final day, a criterium in Parliament grounds in Wellington on Saturday.

James flew into Auckland from the UK and immediately stamped his mark on the North Island tour riding off the front on the opening two stages for impressive wins.

Former professional and national representative Yvette Hill-Willis has managed to stay with James and the lending men on several stages to also stamp her dominance on the female field in the North Island.
James and Hill-Willis rolled in together in the front bunch on today’s 71 kilometre stage from Te Kuiti to Taumarunui that saw James cross the line first in two hours and eleven minutes, followed by second placed tour individual Marty McDonnell, Chris Wilson, Mark Roberts, stage rider Mike Logue and Hill-Willis.

James now has a general classification time of eleven hours and fifty nine minutes, fifteen minutes ahead of McDonnell while Hill-Willis has a general classification time of twelve hours and sixteen minutes which is over an hour ahead of second placed Megan Blank who also leads third placed Helen James by over an hour. 

North Island team Hikurangi put some distance on the Six Gardner Brothers team on today’s stage recording two hours and twenty three minutes, eleven minutes ahead which has increased its overall tour lead to fifteen minutes.

The teams took things to the individual riders in the South Island today with defending teams champion Christchurch Boys High School and second placed team Pablos Wanaka breaking away from the rest of the field on the 80 kilometre stage from Methven to Oxford.

Each team had three riders in the leading bunch that crossed the line together in two hours and three minutes which sees the Christchurch school boys still holding their two minute advantage over the Wanaka team in the team’s classification.

Peak Fuel and West Island also finished together just over three minutes behind the two leading teams that means Peak Fuel holds onto its position in third, two minutes ahead of West Island.

Leading men’s individuals in the South Island Dan Underwood and Gary Lloyd came in together nine minutes behind the lead bunch of Christchurch Boys High School and Pablos Wanaka, in a time of two hours and twelve minutes. Underwood leads Lloyd by over 52 minutes on general classification.

Open women Jeanette White finished comfortably in the middle of the field today in two hours and twenty eight minutes, 14 minutes ahead of second placed woman Jo Straker (masters 60+) in the South Island, to increase her lead to 56 minutes. Gillian Radcliff is lying third. 

Tomorrow’s North Island National Park to Wanganui 118 kilometre stage is broken into a morning 62 kilometre stage followed by a further 56 kilometres in the afternoon. In the South Island riders race a challenging 126 kilometres from Hanmer Springs to Kaikorua on the inland route crossing the Waiau River and passing Mt Lyford Ski area that will be the last serious chance for Pablos Wanaka to close the gap on the Christchurch Boys High team.

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Results - Leaderboards
South Island
Teams
1 CBHS Team Schools 11:17:00; 2 Pablos Wanaka Team Open 11:19:03;  3 Team Peak Fuel Team Open 11:44:33
Individuals
Female
1 JEANETTE WHITE Open 013:10:45; 2 JO STRAKER Masters 60+ 14:07:04;  3 GILLIAN RADCLIFFE Open 16:43:58;
Male
1 DAN UNDERWOOD Open 11:38:05; 2 GARY LLOYD Open 12:30:55; 3 ROSS LEWIS Masters 50-59 12:55:06;
North Island
Teams
1 Hikurangi North Team Open 14:52:41; 2 6 Brothers Team Open 15:08:17;
Individuals
Female
1 YVETTE HILL-WILLIS Open 12:16:22; 2 MEGAN BLANK Open 13:27:31; 3 HELEN JAMES Open 14:36:06
Male
1 TIM JAMES Open 11:59:54; 2 MARTY MCDONNELL Masters 50-59 12:15:06; 3 MARK ROBERTS Masters 50-59 12:20:49;