Cycling: Top 10 finish for Kiwis at Herald Sun Tour

Dion Smith could play a key role in the Herald Sun Tour. Photo / Getty

New Zealand cyclists Dion Smith and Tom Scully have finished in the top 10 of the first stage of the Herald Sun Tour in Australia.

Smith crossed the line in seventh and Scully in eighth on the opening stage, with both riders part of their respective teams' leadout trains for the sprint finish.

Smith helped teammate Robert Stannard - formerly a Kiwi rider before switching allegiance to Australia - finish fifth, but Scully's effort proved the most successful, with his teammate Dan McLay winning the stage in a tightly contested sprint against Kristoffer Halvorsen.

"Scully gave me a good bit of speed, and that was it," said an appreciative McLay after the stage, with the Brit claiming his first win since last April.

With 11 Kiwi riders in the race, there was always likely to be strong New Zealand representation in the final moments of the race, and sure enough several came to the fore late in the piece.

EvoPro Racing's Kiwi trio of Luke Mudgway, Aaron Gate and Shane Archbold put themselves at the front in the final kilometres to set up Dutch teammate Wouter Wippert, who crossed the line in third, while Sam Bewley was involved earlier in the stage to help peg back the breakaway and set up the race for a sprint finish.

A late split put four seconds between the top 12 finishers and the next group of 27, with race favourites Richie Porte and Michael Woods both finishing in the top 12 ahead of tomorrow's stage, which includes a 3.8 kilometre climb at a 9.4 per cent gradient, with just 12 kilometres to go.

That should be too tough for most of the New Zealand riders - most of whom will be working for other teammates - to contend with, but Smith especially could be a good option to contest reduced bunch finishes for some of the tougher stages to come.

The women's tour also features 15 New Zealand riders in a field of just 71, but unlike the men's tour which goes for five stages, the women only get two days to show their class.

Today, Australian sprinter Chloe Hosking took victory, with Kiwis Kirsty McCallum, Deborah Paine, Georgia Williams, Niamh Fisher-Black, Jenna Merrick and Amanda Jamieson all finishing in the top 30, seven seconds back, ahead of a tough climbing finale tomorrow.