Cycling: Guyton will keep wary eye on American chaser

Scott Guyton will wear the leader's yellow jersey during the Tour of Southland's second-longest stage today.

Guyton, riding for the Southland Times team, leads the pack by 36s from American Chris Horner, of the Calder Stewart team, with compatriot John Lieswyn (Winton's Middle Pub) 58s off the pace.

Today's 137km single stage begins in Lumsden and ends at the Crown Range lookout near Queenstown, taking in some of the province's most stunning scenery.

But the riders in this highly competitive pack will have little time to enjoy the view, with plenty of action going on among the tour's leading teams.

Guyton and his team-mates have a handy advantage over the all-overseas Calder Stewart line-up, but the Rotorua rider admitted things could change very quickly.

"Anything can happen, but today it worked out pretty well. The boys rode really strong and looked after me all day."

Guyton was happy with the day's work and even happier to pull the shades on two stages where the field rode in almost constant rain.

While the wind stayed away, Dave McNay's public house in Tuatapere resembled a St Vincent de Paul's shop after a flood, with riders and support crew desperately trying to dry gear for the afternoon stage to Winton.

The two individual stage stories centred around an old dog and a new trick, with Winton's Middle Pub legend Brian Fowler taking the Invercargill to Tuatapere stage.

Fowler, 40, won the last of his record eight tour titles in 1995, but the man known as Chook had enough left in the legs to sneak home ahead of team-mate Lieswyn and Southland Times rider Lee Vertongen in a bunched finish.

Meadow Fresh's Jason Allen, an under-23 rider from Christchurch, claimed one for the young bucks with a strong finish in the afternoon stage.

Rabobank's Tom Leaper leapt out to an early lead in the stage, but tired over the later stages and was swallowed up by a hungry pack.

Allen went on to win by more than half-a-minute from South African Morne Bester (Ascot Park Hotel) and Zookeepers' Gordon McCauley, who was fined $50 by race officials for Monday's unscheduled toilet stop in Queens Park.

Guyton said today's plan would be to keep an eagle eye on rival Horner.

"He's going to be dangerous. He's climbing a bit better than me and time-trialling better than me, so he has to be watched."

Zookeeper's Heath Blackgrove, who also featured in the under-23 section last year, is a familiar sight in the classification's pink jersey, while Hayden Godfrey's strong riding over the opening four stages sees him take over the sprint ace shirt.

- NZPA