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SUBWAY® Pro Cycling's Lovegrove wins Northland stage in impressive fashion

Friday 18 March 2011, 5:27PM

By enthuse

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The SUBWAY® Pro Cycling Team is less than 10 seconds behind the powerful Calder Stewart-Bike NZ team after the opening prologue at the Powernet Tour of Southland today.
The SUBWAY® Pro Cycling Team is less than 10 seconds behind the powerful Calder Stewart-Bike NZ team after the opening prologue at the Powernet Tour of Southland today. Credit: www.subwaycycling.co.nz

NORTHLAND

SUBWAY® Pro Cycling’s Nick Lovegrove recovered from a bad crash yesterday to win the 84 kilometre stage two of the BDO Tour of Northland in impressive fashion this afternoon.

A crash yesterday saw Lovegrove taken to hospital in an ambulance but he bounced back today to ride away from the field in the final stages of today’s racing that finished in Hokianga Harbour.

It was a dominate display by SUBWAY® Pro Cycling with Lovegrove’s team mates Tom Hubbard coming home second and Matt Gorter fourth. Hubbard’s result sees him move up to second overall on general classification with Gorter tucked right behind him trailing by only 16 seconds.

“It was a great day for the team,” a relieved Lovegrove said. “I managed to get a new Giant replacement bike from Auckland overnight and we had a plan today that didn’t quite work out they way we had discussed it, but the final result was very good.”

Gorter had made an early break that stayed away from the chasing field for the first 50 kilometres until it was caught by a bunch that included Lovegrove and Hubbard.

“I attacked over the top of a big climb hoping to take Matt with me but he tired and went back to the bunch. I then just had to put my head down and go solo with about 18 kilometres to go and managed to stay away for the win.”

Lovegrove’s winning time for the stage was two hours and twenty minutes, almost a minute ahead of Hubbard and overall race leader James Oram (Pure Black Racing) who retained the race leader’s yellow jersey heading into tomorrow’s 83 kilometre stage three from Opomoni to Paihia.