Lovegrove takes stage

Waiotira's Nick Lovegrove got back into the saddle to win the second stage of the 2011 BDO Tour of Northland yesterday, a day after his first stage ended abruptly with a fall and a trip to hospital.
Lovegrove broke away from a pack of elite riders to finish the Dargaville to Opononi stage in 2:20.01, 57 seconds ahead of Thomas Hubbard, who outsprinted the lead group to take second place in the stage.
It was a great comeback for Lovegrove, who won the 2010 Fred Ogle Ride in November and was one of the pre-race favourites for the overall title.
Young James Oram, in his first year out of high school, continues to showcase his considerable talent and now leads the race's overall classification.
Oram, who won the king of the mountains at the Australian Junior Tour in Canberra in February last year, was third yesterday, finishing a second behind Hubbard.
With half the tour over, the race to complete the four-day tour as overall winner is still very much up in the air with just two minutes separating the first 10 riders.
Organiser Stephen Cox said the heavens opened to make the final stages of yesterday's tour tough going for the cyclists.
"The rain was pretty heavy and we had a few riders fall off on the final hill coming into Omapere but nothing too serious, so nothing major to report," he said.
Lovegrove, Jeremy Smart and Whangarei's Lee Johnstone were taken to hospital after falling on Kokopu Rd on the first day.
The crash ended their chances in the race but they are still able to compete for fun.
Smart and Johnstone didn't ride yesterday, with Johnstone saying the crash has virtually ended his season.
"I was the third or fourth wheel in the bunch and we were caning it and then I hit the guys wheel in front of me and I went down hard.
"It was really stupid but it happens in races sometimes," Johnstone said. It was a flat straight bit of road and the riders were travelling at about 50km/h and five or six riders went down, but only three went to hospital.
Johnstone broke his collarbone and his clavicle.
He said he would be off the bike for at least a month, ending his hopes of defending his road title at the New Zealand National Cycling nationals.