Lyttle buzzing as Kiwis attack

Scott Lyttle wasn't too fazed by the bee sting on his left arm during the first stage of the Trust House Cycle Classic on Wednesday.
Lyttle, the only local contesting the five-day event, was up front with Australian Institute of Sport rider Patrick Lane when the bee "came out of nowhere" and did its business.
While the resultant sting caused a swelling, it didn't have any adverse effect on his overall performance.
"I did get a bit of shock when it landed on the arm but it didn't stay there long and apart from the sting getting a little itchy there wasn't really a problem," Lyttle said yesterday before the arduous stage two which ended with a climb up Admiral's Hill.
"I actually got treated on the move so there was hardly any loss of momentum."
Lyttle played a huge part in his all-Kiwi PureBlack team dominating the first stage action.
Just 7km from the start in Upper Hutt he and Lane opened up a decent break on the field and it was his aggressive riding which allowed teammates James Williamson and Tim Gudsell to conserve their energy until they joined him - along with nine others - on the outskirts of Martinborough.
From there it was a case of the PureBlack trio waiting for the opportune time to launch a final attack.
Just 15km from the stage finish in Masterton Williamson and Cardno's George Bennett broke away, Williamson easily staving off Bennett in the sprint to the line.
Gudsell was third and Lyttle fifth, thereby ensuring PureBlack was clearly at the top of the team's classification.
Williamson also led the under-23 points list and Lyttle the King of the Mountains table.
"We were pretty determined to make a statement from the word go and it was nice to do that," he said.
"Obviously, there is still a long one to go and we can't start counting our chickens but it's good the other teams are chasing us, rather than the other way around."
Lyttle said the tactics adopted by PureBlack on stage one were unlikely to change as the tour progressed with the emphasis being on "letting our legs do the talking".
"We won't be sitting back and waiting for things to happen, we will be looking to be up front and applying as much pressure as we possibly can," he said, adding the No1 priority for PureBlack was to win the teams title.
"That's the big one, anything else will be a bonus."