Track cyclist Shane Archbold gave his Olympic hopes a boost with a strong performance in winning the penultimate stage of the Tour de la Dordogne in France today.
The 23-year-old took out the individual time trial, the only rider to go under 14 minutes for the lumpy 10.6km circuit around Bergerac in the south-west of France.
Archbold, who will contest the six-discipline omnium in London next month, clocked 13.56.76 to win by more than five seconds from Frenchman Christophe Laporte with Olympic teammate Aaron Gate third in 14:06.95.
"Shane has been training very hard with some big miles and was smoking today," BikeNZ team manager Stephen Connell said.
The team complete the four-stage tour with a challenging final 160km hilly stage to Perigueux tomorrow, before the full team assemble for their final track preparation camp before London.
