Cycling: Time-trial effort seals Classic for Lloyd

Australian Matthew Lloyd rode the best time trial of his life to ensure victory in the Wellington-Wairarapa Cycle Classic yesterday.

The 21-year-old Victorian Institute of Sport rider safely negotiated the twisty 12km stage six route at Miramar Peninsula and surprised himself by clocking the second-fastest time of the day.

Te Awamutu teenager Peter Latham, who had worn the yellow jersey on Friday and Saturday, won the time trial with a time of 14m 57s - his third stage win.

Lloyd, who said he had never gone better than third in time-trialling before, was 19s behind, followed by Robin Reid (Samsung NZ) at 21s.

Christchurch rider Fraser MacMaster (Subway), second overnight on general classification, was fourth-fastest at 22s, not good enough on the day to take the tour lead off Lloyd, who next month joins French team Tarbes Pyrenees for European Division Two and Three races.

"I wasn't really expecting to come out with a ride like that," said Lloyd.

He said the twisty course enabled him to cut into the corners and have a good dig, and added that wearing the yellow jersey had been an incentive for him to get a good time.

Lloyd's time for the five-day 515km tour was 13h 32m 31s, followed by MacMaster at 1m 36s and Latham at 1m 41s.

For Latham, 19, the five-day race had been a useful exercise as part of preparing for him and his Subway team-mates - Tim Gudsell, Jason Allen and Marc Ryan - to represent New Zealand at the world championships in Los Angeles in March.

The quartet had finished second in the team pursuit to Germany in a World Cup meet in Los Angeles last month.

Latham said it was satisfying to have won three of the tour's seven stages while he was building up for the world championships in March, along with Gudsell, Ryan and Allen.

"We've only just started our preparations and it shows my form is coming along nicely," said Latham, who will race the team pursuit and "possibly the Madison with Greg Henderson".

The key moment of the tour came about 10km into Saturday's stage 5 when Lloyd led a breakout, along with Ryan, Trust House's Peter McDonald and MG Xpower's Troy Glennan.

The 125km stage from Masterton ended with two hard and long climbs up Admiral Hill and the main bunch slumbered as the four built up a lead of 5m 49s with 39km to go.

Lloyd said he was surprised the peloton had let the breakaway go.

"I really expected a reaction. Once I found out there wasn't one, I decided to put in a maximum effort and then it was just a matter of finishing it off and going through the whole painful process [of the climb]."

Subway's MacMaster and Jeremy Vennell chased hard from the bottom of the hill and admitted afterward they had let Lloyd and McDonald, who finished second, get too far ahead.

Latham said he was never going to climb with the likes of Lloyd, whom he described as a "wee pocket rocket who dances all the way up".

"I was a little disappointed that with the general classification so close, no other teams came up and took their share of the responsibility for chasing and by the time the other teams came and helped us, it was too late."

The final stage, a one-hour criterium in Petone, was a formality as Lloyd's Jayco team-mates cushioned their leader against any concerted effort to strip the yellow jersey off him.

Lloyd said the win meant a lot, as it was his first race with the Victorian Institute of Sport.

"Hopefully people will take notice of this."

The sprint jersey went to Christchurch rider Hayden Godfrey of Subway and Australian Troy Glennan (MG Xpower) took the King of the Mountains title.

The team title was won by Samsung NZ (40h 45m 19s) with MG Xpower second (at 4m 49s) and Jayco third (at 9m 56s).

- NZPA