KEY POINTS:
On a long, hilly stage which was expected to separate the men from the boys, Perth teenager Travis Meyer blew that theory away in the Wellington Classic cycling tour yesterday.
Meyer, from the South Australia.com AIS team, held the leader's yellow jersey this morning despite not winning the first two tour stages, but he put that right by claiming the key 185km third stage on the outskirts of Masterton.
He won a neck-to-neck duel over the final hill climb with New Zealand veteran Robin Reid from the Delmaine Foods team. Reid was just two seconds behind Meyer who clocked 4h 40min 45 sec.
Defending champion Hayden Roulston was well back in 35th place, 15min 23secs behind Meyer. It is clearly an insurmountable gap for him to close with just four short stages to go over the final days.
- NZPA
