Cycling: Avanti too good in road classic

With the title safely stowed in the team van, Avanti riders Robin Reid and Bryce Shapley can decide between themselves who will win the Tour of Wellington classic.

As soon as Tourism Southland rider Gordon McCauley broke his collarbone in a collision with the roadside barrier on the descent of the Rimutakas yesterday, the tour was as good as won for Avanti, with five of the seven stages still remaining.

Reid retains the yellow jersey, six seconds ahead of Shapley, with New Zealand track team rider Hayden Roulston third, 3min 2s down.

Ever the opportunist, McCauley had joined Roulston at the front of the race after Reid punctured in Upper Hutt and his team-mates debated the merits of going back to retrieve him.

Confident of staying away through to stage's end in Masterton, McCauley got greedy in his haste to take more time out of his pursuers and failed to make a sharp right hand turn, taking Roulston down with him in the process.

"Hayden really hurt me up the climb, but when we got to the top I thought, 'right, I'm a good descender, we can stay away'," he said.

"I came racing down and the right-hander kept going and going and I slammed right into the rail."

With his commitments with a Belgian professional team beginning in six weeks, the remarkably positive McCauley hopes to have his injured shoulder pinned back together and to resume training next week.

The leading pair's demise allowed Reid to regain lost ground and join team-mates Shapley and Jeremy Yates at the front of the field.

Despite his fall and the loss of two minutes, the magnificent Roulston pushed his big gear back to the front, deservedly beating out the Avanti riders in a six-man sprint to complete the 122km stage.

Reid and Shapley can thank Yates for his yeoman work in the role of domestique, pacing them up the Rimutakas, chasing down breaks and driving the winning breakaway along in concert with Roulston.

So long as Yates continues to keep tabs on Roulston, only Hawkins Hill on Sunday looks as though it will pose any real threat to Reid finishing the tour in yellow. It is here that Shapley's superior climbing ability should tell.

Some of the gloss was taken off the day's racing by the 45km third stage around Masterton.

Only six of the 84 riders who started completed the stage after all lapped riders were told to stop riding. Alistair Duncan beat Heath Blackgrove after the pair broke clear early on.

- NZPA