Cycling: Northey stays strong to succeed

After riding 352km over four days, there were some tired legs in the 420-strong field who completed the 2012 BDO Tour of Northland.

In dismal wet weather, cyclists finished stage four and the tour at Kensington Stadium, after starting from the same venue on Thursday.

Auckland's Mike Northey crossed the line first, winning the fourth stage in 2:31:55 with Aaron Strong and Daniel Molyneux finishing two minutes behind.

The Auckland trio dominated the tour from start to finish and also claimed the podium places on general classification.

Northey finished the four days in just under nine hours.

Race organiser Nathan Cox said it was not a particularly fast tour, as cyclists were riding into a strong head wind during stage three and stage four was very wet.

"The same old riders came in first together and the rest of the field was spread out far and wide."

There were several minor crashes, but no serious injuries occurred during the tour which started in Whangarei headed west for Dargaville, and Opononi and then turned eastwards to Paihia and back to Whangarei.

"Riders seemed to have a blast even in the rain ... overall it went really well," Cox said.

Whangarei junior cyclist Ben Johnstone was the best of the Northland contingent, placing sixth on general classification, while Carly Braithwaite was the first female home ahead of Ruby Livingstone, and Northland's Chubby Hale.