Commonwealth Games-bound road cyclist Melissa Holt spearheaded New Zealand's solid start to the three-day Tour of Geelong yesterday, finishing third in the time trial.
Holt was headed by Austrian Christiane Soeder and Svetlana Bubnekova, of Russia, while New Zealand's Olympic pursuit champion and world record holder Sarah Ulmer was sixth -- after the 8km stage along the Victorian coast at Portarlington.
A candidate for the eventual six-strong women's road race squad, Holt did her chances no harm, clocking 11 minutes 12.082sec, just a shade slower than Bubenkova (11min 12.040sec).
Soeder was the comfortable winner in 11min 07.050 -- Ulmer stopped the clock at 11min 25.110sec.
New Zealand's next best among the 12-strong contingent were 15th-placed Dale Tye (11min 47.150sec), while Tammy Boyd was a further two spots back in the 136-strong field after clocking 11min 48.020sec.
BikeNZ women's endurance coach Suzy Pryde was happy with the opening exchange, which also included a 30km criterium.
"It was a good start, we had a real presence. We're ready to go out with all guns blazing tomorrow," she said.
The field will undertake a 80km circuit to Barwon Heads today and round out the tour on Thursday with a testing 113km route out and back from the town of Lara which includes a tough climb up Mt Wallace at the halfway mark of the stage.
The BikeNZ and Team New Zealand teams then rest up ahead of Sunday's World Cup one-day road race leg in and around Geelong.
- NZPA
Cycling: Encouraging start for Holt
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