Michael Vink came into this year’s Tour of Southland under the radar, but that has all changed now.
The 26-year-old Cantabrian made the torturous 12km Coronet Peak climb look like an escalator at the end of a 138km stage from Mossburn to Queenstown today to take a 1min 20sec lead overall at the midway point of the SBS Bank-sponsored race.
“The key today was having an easy ride the last two days. The team has looked after me so, so well and I hit the bottom of the climb really fresh,” Vink said.
“It’s a sedate stage until you hit the bottom of the climb, but I knew that the legs were good.”
Vink has been one of the top riders on the New Zealand cycling scene for a decade, including finishing third overall and leading under 23 rider in the 2012 Southland tour, and runner-up for the past two years.
A seven-strong breakaway led by under 23 Australian rider Jensen Plowright (Aardvark Excavators) took the tour through northern Southland and around picturesque Lake Wakatipu, edging out to a lead of nearly 4mins.
Plowright would eventually take on the Coronet Peak climb alone, before being joined by Vink, Hamish Bond, Sam Gaze and Lionel Mawditt.
Vink bossed the climb to finish well over a minute ahead of Commonwealth Games gold medallist mountainbiker Gaze, with Bond third.
A niggly crash in the shadow of the climb threw a scare into the peloton, and then defending champion James Piccoli crashed heavily at the hard right hand corner leading into the climb.
He eventually recovered his bike and tried to mount a brave last ditch assault, but it’s likely the popular Canadian’s title defence is over for this year.
Overnight leader Matt Zenovich managed to limit his losses on the climb, but still slipped to 12th place overall.
Southland’s Corbin Strong impressed on the hill, the world junior team pursuit champion finishing sixth overall.
Vink (WPC South-Joyride Apparel) has put himself in position to win the Southland tour before, but has missed crucial breaks at crucial times.
This year he believes he has the team around him to cling on to a yellow jersey which has proved slippery in the past, with a 1min 20sec lead over teammate Oliver Martin, Gaze third at 1min 21sec and Bond fourth at 1min 34sec.
“It’s always good to have a lead, but things can change so quickly so we have to be on our game if we want to hold it. I’ve been in this position before so I know what to do and we’ll be ready for it.”
In Vink’s favour is the fact he has won tomorrow’s stage from Invercargill to Bluff Hill before and he can draw on the experience of 2015 tour winner Brad Evans in the team van beside him.
“It’s really nice having Brad as road captain. In other years I’ve been GC rider and captain, which is a hard thing to juggle. I think finishing with six guys in the prologue on the first day, and riding such a quick time was a really good sign straight off the bat. The boys have had a pretty good run so far so they’ll be ready to unleash tomorrow.”
Auckland’s Connor Brown leads the under 23 classification by 22sec from Strong, while Zenovich leads the Sprint Ace standings, and Ethan Batt the King of the Mountains.
Glenn Haden has moved into the lead in the over 35 classification, with WPC South-Joyride Apparel the leading team.
Tomorrow’s fourth stage is 148km from Invercargill to Bluff Hill, finishing at about 2.15pm.
All photos for editorial use only, mandatory photo credit to James Jubb/Studio Jubb
Results from the 4th stage of the SBS Tour of Southland.
Mossburn – Five Rivers – Coronet Peak.
- Michael Vink (WJA) 3h44m25s;
- Sam Gaze (PNL) at 01m21s;
- Hamish Bond (KAP) at 01m23s;
- Connor Brown (PNL) at 01m51s;
- Oliver Martin (WJA) at 02m03s;
- Corbin Strong (TSF) at 02m03s;
- Jesse Featonby (AVE) at 02m18s;
- Nick White (AVE) at 02m26s;
- Ben Oliver (OPC) at 02m29s;
- Jake Marryatt (FNN) at 02m36s;
- Lionel Mawditt (TSF) at 03m00s;
- Glenn Haden (VFF) at 03m05s;
- Ryan Christiansen (KAP) at 03m13s;
- James Piccoli (KAP) at 03m20s;
- Ethan Batt (WJA) at 03m51s;
- Kees Duyvesteyn (CSR) at 03m51s;
- Matias Fitzwater (VFF) at 04m12s;
- Paul Odlin (PNL) at 04m27s;
- Marcus Culey (PMK) at 04m27s;
- Matt Zenovich (PMK) at 04m27s;
- Campbell Pithie (ITM) at 04m36s;
- Jordan Schmidt (VSR) at 04m59s;
- Shaun Falzarano (ITM) at 05m01s;
- Brandon Conway (OPC) at 05m30s;
- Sascha Bondarenko-Edwards (TSF) at 05m35s;
Overall Standings
- Michael Vink (WJA) 11h00m22s;
- Oliver Martin (WJA) at 01m20s;
- Sam Gaze (PNL) at 01m21s;
- Hamish Bond (KAP) at 01m34s;
- Connor Brown (PNL) at 01m57s;
- Corbin Strong (TSF) at 02m19s;
- Jesse Featonby (AVE) at 02m32s;
- Nick White (AVE) at 02m37s;
- Ben Oliver (OPC) at 02m54s;
- Ryan Christiansen (KAP) at 03m28s;
- Glenn Haden (VFF) at 03m29s;
- Matt Zenovich (PMK) at 03m35s;
- James Piccoli (KAP) at 03m35s;
- Ethan Batt (WJA) at 04m00s;
- Kees Duyvesteyn (CSR) at 04m10s;
- Paul Odlin (PNL) at 04m33s;
- Matias Fitzwater (VFF) at 04m36s;
- Shaun Falzarano (ITM) at 05m36s;
- Campbell Pithie (ITM) at 05m39s;
- Sascha Bondarenko-Edwards (TSF) at 05m50s;
- Ben Carmen (WJA) at 05m54s;
- Julian Thomson (OPC) at 06m09s;
- Tom Sexton (BSS) at 06m19s;
- Kane Richards (ITM) at 06m27s;
- Ben Andrews (AVE) at 06m37s;
Team Overall
- WPC South-Joyride Apparel 33h06m43s;
- Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel at 02m17s;
- Powernet at 02m20s;
- Team Skoda Fruzio at 05m49s;
- Aardvark Excavators Ltd at 05m52s;
- Olphert Contracting at 09m21s;
- ITM at 11m26s;
- Placemakers at 16m58s;
- Vet4Farm at 23m51s;
- TotalPOS Solutions at 25m23s;
Sprints
- Matt Zenovich (PMK) 26;
- Ollie Jones (PNL) 26;
- Alex Vogel (VFF) 19;
- Morgan Smith (AVE) 11;
- Jensen Plowright (AVE) 11;
- Paul Odlin (PNL) 8;
- Jordan Gilmore (CBW) 8;
- James Fouche (CSR) 8;
- Dylan Kennett (PMK) 7;
- Blake Sunde (ACA) 6;
King of Mountains
- Ethan Batt (WJA) 30;
- Matt Zenovich (PMK) 17;
- Thomas Hubbard (PMK) 13;
- Michael Vink (WJA) 10;
- oan Fuller (TPS) 8;
- Jensen Plowright (AVE) 6;
- Brett Grieve (TFC) 6;
- Sam Gaze (PNL) 6;
- Morgan Smith (AVE) 6;
- Scott Thomas (TPS) 6;